Strictly sleaze: How romantic elegance gave way to raunchy routines and ever more skimpy outfits
- In 2004 show epitomised elegance with ball gowns and reserved routines
- But since 2011 outfits have become shorter as dances become raunchier
- Simon Webbe and Kristina Rihanoff's latest routine attracted criticism
From the moment Natasha Kaplinsky was first whirled around the floor by charming dancer Brendan Cole in the first series, Strictly Come Dancing was a hit with the British public.
As the newsreader stepped out in a succession of gorgeous, glittery gowns, wowing the judges with her fancy footwork, and opera singer Lesley Garrett foxtrotted through the series with super-confident Anton du Beke, viewers fell in love with the graceful dancers, elegant routines and beautiful outfits.
Tasteful and wholesome, it was — at last — the perfect prime-time Saturday night show and exactly what viewers wanted from the BBC: a family-friendly programme that appealed to all generations.
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Perfect in purple: Lesley Garrett with Anton du Beke in the first series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2004
Red-hot Rumba: Kristina Rihanoff and Simon Webbe drew complaints with their routine in 2014
Seeing is believing: Natasha Kaplinsky and Brendan Cole let their feet do the talking (left in 2004), while Pixie Lott and Trent Whiddon opt for racier attire (right in 2014)
However, that was back in 2004. Fast forward ten years and the show appears radically altered.
On Saturday, former boyband star Simon Webbe performed a rumba with Kristina Rihanoff, who was dressed in a racy, skin-tight costume that was so raunchy that it sparked a wave of criticism.
Yet this wasn’t an isolated incident. This year’s show bears little resemblance to the first series. Gone are the older professional dancers, gone are the reserved, romantic routines, gone are the elegant gowns.
Today’s dancers are more likely to be seen thrusting around on their partner’s thigh in a cut-away, bottom and breast-baring leotard. Such is the contrast that images from 2004 look not just outdated, but as if they belong in an entirely different era.
It is hard to imagine in the current series the ankle-length, long-sleeved purple dress worn by Lesley Garrett. Nor can one imagine the explicit, overtly-sexual dances of last weekend having a place in the show of ten years ago.
Peachy poise: Claire Sweeney looks radiant in a ball gown during the 2004 series of Strictly Come Dancing
Darling dancing: Caroline Flack pulls a provocative pose alongside dancing partner Pasha Kovalev this year
Carol Vorderman keeps it classy in a white dress in 2004, while Fern Britton shows off her legs in 2012
On Saturday, professional dancer Kevin Clifton danced the paso doble with pop star Frankie Bridge with such hip-swirling passion that he split his trousers, Janette Manrara led a knicker-flashing routine with EastEnders star Jake Wood, while the encounter between Kristina and Simon seemed far more suitable for after the watershed. Or on a rather different kind of TV channel.
As one viewer wrote on a fan forum: ‘Kristina is looking more and more like an adult film star each week. Far too frantic for a rumba, no “dancing” from Simon whatsoever and a really awkward semi-smutty atmosphere.’
The slide into sleaze has been so evident that even dancer Ola Jordan claims to have noticed, saying over the summer that the glamour of Strictly was starting to curdle.
‘We dancers are used to wearing tiny costumes. But on the show they are getting shorter,’ said Ms Jordan. ‘I understand some people may feel uncomfortable, especially the celebrities.’
Not that Ola seems at all uncomfortable herself in skimpy costumes. Her outfits on the show are modest compared to her calendar, now an annual release from several of the female dancers.
Chelsee Healey was left crying bitterly after falling out of her dress due to a wardrobe malfunction
Ola’s 2015 calendar shows her naked, with her peachy buttocks exposed insouciantly, while her colleague Iveta Lukosiute poses in underwear throughout hers — the black, strappy sort, often teamed with thigh-high boots that call to mind Julia Roberts as a prostitute in Pretty Woman.
Kristina strikes various erotically charged poses wearing extremely little.
It isn’t just the dancers who are showing off acres of flesh on this series of Strictly. Pop stars Pixie Lott, 23, and Frankie Bridge, 25, have worn costumes that are little more than spangled bikinis.
Pixie has at least worn a dress — though one so short that the knickers had to be sewn in.
In previous years, when the BBC chose more mature contestants, such outfits simply weren’t considered. TV presenters Carol Vorderman, 53, Carol Smillie, 52, and Emmerdale’s Claire King, 51, looked undeniably glamorous without pouring themselves into scraps of glittery material.
As recently as 2010, Patsy Kensit, 46, and Pamela Stephenson, 64, were the grand dames in gloriously glittering dresses.
Lower the tone: Siobhan Hayes oozes elegance in a blue number for the 2005 show, while Rachel Riley struts her stuff in a skimpier number in 2013
But after Holly Valance, 31, the Neighbours star turned pop starlet who writhed in a cage in a see-through dress in 2011, Strictly must have decided no series was complete without at least one half-dressed pop starlet.
But the push for provocative attire isn’t coming from the contestants. Coronation Street actress Natalie Gumede, 30, found the brevity of the costumes an embarrassment last year.
She said at the time: ‘I kind of turn up on Friday and see how much material is in the dress and nine times out of ten I get some added.’
For a young actress to plead for an extra bit of fringing to spare her blushes says a lot about the show’s wardrobe policy.
Though even those who don’t complain can struggle with the lack of clothing, as actress Chelsee Healey, 26, discovered in 2011 when a wardrobe malfunction left her crying bitterly after falling out of her dress. The BBC denies that the costume policy has changed, however.
A spokesman said: ‘It is as it has always been. It has not become any raunchier. We have the same lady in charge of wardrobe and there have not been any orders to sex it up.
Patsy Palmer poses in a peach number along with dance partner Anton Du Beke for the 2005 show
Patsy Kensit takes to the floor in a short sparkly number during the 2010 show alongside Robin Windsor
'The costumes are an important part of the glamour of the show.’
Perhaps the BBC’s lack of concern over the sauciness of the show can be explained by a look at the ratings figures.
Strictly started regularly beating The X Factor in 2011, helped by Holly Valance, Chelsee falling out of her dress and eventual winner Harry Judd from McFly going shirtless.
But while Strictly’s ratings remain ahead of the ITV talent contest, its viewing figures have fallen gradually since 2010 — since, in fact, the outfits and dances got racier.
Fitting with the raunchier image, the show’s professional dancers have also been replaced by younger, thinner blondes.
In have come a phalanx of Eastern European hotties — Siberian Kristina Rihanoff, Polish Ola Jordan and Lithuanian Iveta Lukosiute, whose svelte bodies and blonde hair means they are virtually indistinguishable.
Kristina wore a succession of bikinis with beads when dancing with rugby player Ben Cohen last year, and is continuing to ram home her sexpot image.
But then, while such provocative attire and sexy routines might have been out of place ten years ago, this series’ racy rumbas, outrageous outfits and blonde professional dancers have turned what was a family favourite Strictly Sleazy.
If you think they're racy on TV, clock their calendars!
Exposed: Ola Jordan (left) leaves little to the imagination in her calendar , while Kristina Rihanoff strips down
Provocative: Iveta Lukosiute poses in lacy underwear in an advert for her latests calendar
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