The Strictly stars with previous dance experience, from Tasha Ghouri to JB Gill

Featuring a professionally-trained commercial dancer and theatre school graduate

<em>Strictly Come Dancing</em> is almost back on our screens and fans are once again putting on their detective hats to find out which celebrities have an “advantage” due to past dance training.

As many of the celebrities competing on Strictly are actors, singers and performers, a large number of them will have trained in dance or theatrical performance.

Those contestants are often subject to backlash from viewers at home who argue that they have an unfair advantage compared to the other contestants. There is also criticism that the inclusion of these celebrities means that the amateur dancing show has become more competitive in recent years. Last year, Layton Williams faced similar complaints from viewers who claimed he had an unfair advantage due to his dance experience performing in West End productions.

This year’s lineup includes a professionally trained commercial dancer, a JLS member and a musician with West End performance experience. Find out who they are, and what they’ve said about their training, below.

Tasha Ghouri

The ‘Love Island’ star trained as a dancer at Creative Academy in Slough (BBC)

Before she became a finalist on the 2022 season of Love Island, 26-year-old Ghouri trained as a dancer at Creative Academy in Slough and has since competed at major dance events. She specialises in commercial, which is a broader style of dance popularly seen in music videos or on stage at music tours.

Speaking to The Independent and other journalists at a roundtable event ahead of the new series, Ghouri explained that the ballroom technique is completely different to the training she received at dance school.

“Commercial dance is very different to ballroom dance and latin, I’m still having to strip down and relearn, even walking in cha cha step is weird to me – you have to turn out your feet and lead with your hips, so it’s based on muscle memory.”

“Even letting a man take the lead is a lot.”

Speaking about whether she is anticipating backlash due to her previous training, Ghouri said that she signed up for the show to make her family proud, and is looking forward to a positive experience.

“I’ve gotta block out that noise and luckily I’ve been in this industry for two years and I’ve grown so much stronger after Love Island – there was so much negativity,” she said. “[Strictly] is my dream. It’s something I’ve dreamt of for so long. So I’m doing this for me and my family and my partner.”

JB Gill

Dancing has been a key feature of JLS’ brand (Getty Images)

Gill, who rose to fame in 2008 with his boyband JLS, has a wealth of dancing experience from starring in the band’s music videos and performing dance routines on tour.

The “One Shot” singer has already had a taste of Strictly: he took home the trophy on the 2012 Christmas show, performing a jive to “Rockin’ Robin” alongside professional dancer Ola Jordan.

Speaking ahead of this year’s show, Gill explained that he had just finished touring with JLS, so that he was already feeling physically ready for the show.

“I’ve literally just come off a summer tour with all of the boys, so I’m probably in the best shape that I possibly could be,” he told The Independent. “Physically I feel like I’m in a decent space, but as soon as we start doing all the frames and all this stuff, I think the muscles are really gonna hurt. So I’m preparing myself.”

Jamie Borthwick

‘Strictly’ contestant Jamie Borthwick (BBC)

EastEnders actor Borthwick is already well-prepared for this year’s Strictly after winning the 2023 Christmas special alongside professional dancer Nancy Xu.

The couple performed the Quickstep and achieved a maximum of 40 points from the judges.

Borthwick attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School, which trains students in singing, acting and dancing. Daniel Kaluuya, Dua Lipa and Amy Winehouse are all alumni.

Speaking to The Independent, Borthwick remarked that it had only been a matter of six months between his two Strictly stints: “It’s like I never left because what’s six months anyway?” he said.

Toyah Willcox

Toyah Willcox has West End performance experience (BBC)

Willcox, best known for hit singles like “It’s A Mystery”, “I Want to Be Free” and “Brave New World”, has a career spanning more than 40 years across stage and screen.

The singer rose to fame in the late Seventies when she fronted the band Toyah, before pursuing a solo career in the mid-Eighties. But she has completed several stints as a character actor in West End shows, and has been privy to some performance and dance experience.

Throughout her career, she has acted, sung and danced in more than 40 stage shows and acted in more than 20 feature films.

Speaking to The Independent about her performance experience, she said: “I’ve done West End shows. But I’m a character actress, not a dancer, and I will give anything a go. This is such a different art form. We’ve got to turn our feet out. We’ve got to twist our backs. We’ll be doing things that I would never choose to do in a West End show. It’s going to be very challenging, I think for all of us.”