The perfect feelgood TV, did Strictly’s sparkle blind it to flaws in its format? | Sonia Sodha

Allegations of bullying have caused the BBC to rethink how contestants are treated on the flagship reality show

Strictly Come Dancing always seemed to me like the no-brainer reality TV show from a contestant perspective. At best, it’s seriously career-enhancing; at worst, you face the prospect of dropping out after a couple of weeks adorned in sequins.

Stay in long enough and you actually learn to dance while shedding pounds, all while taking part in a show that trades in everyone having the time of their lives rather than people falling out with each other. Not a patch on sticking your head in a fishbowl of cockroaches on I’m a Celebrity…, anxiously waiting to see if your new beau will cheat on you in Love Island’s Casa Amor, or being the Faithful everyone turns on at the Traitors roundtable.