Strictly Come Dancing 2022 couples include unannounced additional same-sex partnership

Jayde Adams will be competing with a female pro

The couples of Strictly Come Dancing 2022 have been revealed – including an unexpected second same-sex partnership.

The dance competition returned with its launch show on Friday (23 September), with the 15 celebrity competitors learning which pro dancer will be putting them through the ringer during the next three months.

You can find all the couples competing on Strictly Come Dancing 2022 here.

While it had previously been announced that the show would be featuring one same-sex couple, with Richie Anderson requesting a male partner and being paired with Giovanni Pernice, an all-female partnership was also revealed.

One of the last partnerships unveiled on the night was comedian Jayde Adams, who will be performing on Strictly Come Dancing with professional dancer Karen Hauer.

Upon learning she would be dancing with Hauer, Adams said: “Karen is Strictly. I’m so glad that I’m with a girl.”

Hauer said: “I love everything about her. I think she’s incredible. I’m absolutely excited. I have so many ideas, too many ideas. This is going to be a golden moment for me.”

Adams said that she’d always felt more comfortable with the idea of being partnered with a woman on Strictly.

Adding that she didn’t want to “offend all the boys on the show”, she said: “They ain’t strong enough and that ain’t my fault”.

Adams and Hauer will compete together on ‘Strictly' (BBC/Ray Burmiston)

Asked if the show was living up to her expectations, Adams said: “I feel like it’s not real, I feel like someone made a Strictly-themed birthday party and I’m in the middle of it.”

Growing up, Adams used to compete in freestyle disco dancing competitions with her sister Jenna, who died of a brain tumour in 2011. The last time Adams ever danced was with her sister.

In a recent interview with The Independent, Adams has said that Strictly Come Dancing is “everything I’ve ever worked towards”.

You can read more about Adams here.

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 24 September at 6.45pm on BBC One.