Ian Waite wants to see an all-stars series of Strictly Come Dancing
Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Ian Waite has called for an all-stars series of the BBC show where former couples get a chance to return to the dance floor.
Ian Waite has called for a Strictly Come Dancing all-stars series.
The 54-year-old dancer competed on the BBC Saturday night favourite between 2004 and 2010 and thinks that the show could do a series where couples from years gone by return to the dance floor.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Ian said: "It’s definitely something that they could look into because there’s so much nostalgia.
"Everybody loves the old pros from Strictly and the nostalgia that goes around it with certain couples, let’s say Darren (Bennett) and Jill Halfpenny and me and Zoe Ball, Vincent (Simone) with Rachel Stevens.
"There’s a lot of couples that could possibly come back and yeah, an all-stars would be a great thing to do I think."
Strictly has been rocked by scandals in recent years – including the complaints made by Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington about her professional partner Giovanni Pernice's conduct when she took part in the show in 2023 – but Ian is hopeful that the safeguarding measures introduced by bosses will prevent the same thing from happening again.
He said: "This is an isolated case I think. In general the pros are really professional and really hard-working. In my experience, we’ve all worked really hard, we’ve all done competitions, we’re all at the top of our game and that’s why we’re on Strictly.
"Hopefully the safeguarding is in place now so that that won’t happen again and I think that’s the best for everybody really because it protects not only the celebrities but it protects the pros - because who’s to say we won’t be abused."
Ian is taking part in The Return of the Legends tour with his fellow former Strictly stars Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev and Vincent Simone and has been surprised by the close bond the group have formed despite their competitive natures.
He said: "That’s what’s been so great, we’ve got this really great bromance backstage.
"I wasn’t really sure whether we’d all be able to bond because we’ve all done our own shows and been very successful performing in our shows. We weren’t sure whether we’d be able to get on but actually it’s like a proper bromance backstage and we all love each other. We all appreciate each other. "
The Return of the Legends tours nationwide from 5th September until 17th October: https://www.legendsofthedancefloor.com/
