Why we all need a bit of Strictly magic - Catherine Scott

What a tonic Strictly Come Dancing was on Saturday night
Nicola Adams, Katya Jones  performing on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing Picture: BBC/ Guy LevyNicola Adams, Katya Jones  performing on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing Picture: BBC/ Guy Levy
Nicola Adams, Katya Jones performing on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing Picture: BBC/ Guy Levy

With so much doom and gloom around at the moment, I think we all needed a few sequins and pots of fake tan to transport us to a far happier place.

The producers have gone to great lengths to bring us this piece of escapism on a Saturday night.

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Celebrities and professional have formed bubbles, the invited audience are sitting at tables wearing masks, the orchestra is behind screens and the judges, minus Bruno Tonioli
who is in America, are socially distanced.

It might all sound a bit contrived, but this is Strictly and they can get away with pretty much anything.

We have watched Strictly as a family since my girls were little and dancing around the sitting room. They then grew out of it as they became self-conscious.

But Saturday night’s show was like the return of an old friend. There was such comfort in its familiarity and we all sat down as a family once again to watch.

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It was really needed after a second bout of self-isolation this term as yet another child in GCSE year 11 tested positive and we struggled with the lack of Zoom lessons and unfathomable power points (but that’s for another column methinks).

It was a bit different and of course there was the first same-sex partnership with the pairing of boxer Nicola Adams and Katya Jones.

The pair made history but it was handled in the normal subtle Strictly way.

The only person that seemed to have a problem with it was former politician and former Strictly contestant, Ann Widdecombe.

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She claims that ‘families don’t want to see same-sex couples on the show’.

Having watched on Saturday night, our family would far rather watch Nicola and Katya dancing than Ann Widdecombe being hauled around the floor by Anton Du Beke as she was in the 2010 series.

It shows how far some people have come in a decade and how far others have not. If Nicola wants to dance with another woman, why shouldn’t she? It is not about sex it is about choice.

But, for me, what was probably more important than all that was the reminder that despite the resurgence of the pandemic and the frightening times we live in, life does go on.

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It might not be back to normal by any means, but it shows that we can have a little joy in our lives.

It was a symbol that life is not as bad as it seems and that we will come out the other end, and yes, life might be different, but we will adapt and the show will go on.

Twitter@ypcscott

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