Katya Jones, 31, and Nicola Adams have been announced as Strictly Come Dancing’s first same-sex pairing of the BBC competition that returned tonight. The couple are said to need some extra “help” from professional dancer Neil Jones, who was chosen not to have a celebrity partner in this year’s series.
It comes after former professional dancer James Jordan, 42, expressed his thoughts on the new couple of the series via Twitter.
In view of his 269,000 followers, he wrote: “Nicola and Katya
“If anyone can make this work it’s Katya, plus if she gets some help from the genius that is Neil Jones they could bring something different to the show #Strictly.”
It wasn’t long before many Strictly viewers weighed in on the conversation to express their thoughts over James’ remarks.
READ MORE: Nicola Adams issues warning to Strictly pro partner
It seems as though BBC viewers are as excited as Nicola, as many told the boxing champion how “refreshing” the pair will be for the dancing programme.
One told Nicola: “Good on you Nicola. As a gay man it’s so refreshing to see a member of the LGBTQ+ family representing us on the show.
“I think you’ll open a lot of minds and hearts. They’ll be the haters of course, but we’ve got your back!”
Another added: “Excellent pairing Nicola. Katya is fun and fabulous. I can’t wait to see you both.”
It comes after it was announced that Katya’s ex-husband Neil won’t be paired up with a celebrity contestant this year after competing with Alex Scott last year.
James expressed his thoughts on the BBC’s decision tonight, stressing the professional dancer is “too good to be sitting on the bench”.
“I still can’t believe @Mr_NJones doesn’t have a celebrity partner this year,” he wrote.
“He’s too good to be sitting on the bench. If he ever got someone with dance ability he would take the show to a new level. Fact #Strictly.”