One of our favourite things about Strictly Come Dancing is watching the dancing pros and their celebrity partners grow together and thrive week by week – with many becoming close friends as a result!
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We're so excited to see who is paired with who for the class of 2022 so join us as we reveal the new pairings as they happen!
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Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin
Go Ellie and Nikita! Nikita was previously paired with Tilly Ramsay back in 2021, and we can't wait to see his choreography this year! Ellie opened up about the pair working out how to dance together, explaining: "The disability representation and dwarfism and it's so out of my comfort zone and it's about adapting. Nikita and I were saying, ‘How are we going to work it,’ and we’re both in the unknown. He’s never danced with anyone with dwarfism before, I’ve never danced before, so how’s it going to work out. I’ve seen Rose do it last year, JJ, Lauren and Johnny."
Tyler West and Dianne Buswell
These two are besties already! He said: "I fell to the floor when she walked in! I didn’t think it was going to be Dianne, and when she walked in it was amazing. We met before and we just have that chemistry and banner where it’s like, she's like my sister and once you get past that everything else just becomes so fun."
Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima
Kym and Graziano already knew each other before being partnered up, and Kym couldn't have been happier with her new partner. She said: "I have been very fortunate to have met several of the pros while doing morning live because they've come on and done the fitness bit at the end. That said, not knowing them inside out, but knowing them nonetheless, and actually Graziano is one of those that I got to know quite well, he came to watch me in Fatal Attraction, and he’s so great and wonderful and the rest of it."
Will Mellor and Nancy Xu
It sounds like Will and Nancy are already getting on like a house of fire, even though Will admitted that he thinks his new partner is "crackers"! He said: "We met her. We do a little test to see if you want to do the show and she was my test dancer. I felt like I wanted to be with her because I had a connection already from the test and she gave me the little bump to want to do it. I'm very chuffed! We’re both a bit bonkers but it’ll work!"
Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez
Helen had the most hilarious story about how their partnership was the worst kept secret on Strictly! She explained: " I thought it was hilarious because we all had to keep it secret. It's like, ‘It's a secret. Don't tell anyone.’ We met in a park during the school holidays and I kid you not, there's a train and obviously I’m holding a glitterball. Every time the train went round there were kids on the train, and me and Gorka were like, ‘Is this supposed to be a secret?!'" At some point one of the children asked what they were filming, and Helen told them it was Countryfile.
James Bye and Amy Dowden
It sounds like James was secretly hoping for his partner, aw! Chatting to HELLO! and other reporters, James said: "I was really shocked that they gave me Amy. Amy, as for me, watching the show, she's one of my personal favourites. Because of my height, I'm quite tall so I'd never really thought that even put me with Amy and so when we did the reveal in Albert Square, I was blown away! I'm over the moon, she's wicked."
When asked if Amy will finally take home the glitterball trophy with James, he joked: "Probably not. The funny thing is and I say this to my wife all the time, that I have no idea if I can dance! When the music comes on at a party I can go from side to side in time. But I don't know if I can foxtrot and all that sort of stuff. So this is an experiment, it's generally an experiment, you never know, I could be Anton Du Beke by the end of it."
Fleur East and Vito Coppola
Fleur is already a big fan of her partner, Vito, and opened up about how they've been getting along. She said: "I was so nervous about that part. Because that is your journey. Your partner is your journey. Our energy, we just clicked instantly. It’s his first time doing it, it’s mine, and we get to experience it together, which is nice. He’s quite firm, I know he's gonna work me hard, but at the same time, we laugh a lot as well."
Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal
Chatting about Jowita, Hamza jokes: "I was just ecstatic that she's shorter than me. You know, that's my thing. I'm a short dude! I was over the moon and Jowita is just amazing, a beautiful soul. She’s direct, she tells me exactly what she wants and because I have a tendency to just sway, I need to be on the straight and narrow. She said, ‘Give me two things, all your energy and listen to what I have to say.’"
Matt Goss and Nadiya Bychkova
Matt and Nadiya sound like the dream team! Speaking of seeing her surprise him at the O2 arena, Matt said: " I was at the O2, we played a few nights there fairly recently… I turned around and saw Nadiya and it was exactly who I wanted to dance with. She’s very calm. She's super kind, super patient. And it was also nice to be standing in the middle of the O2, which I'm very familiar with and then go, ‘Okay, I’m passing the baton to you. I am completely surrendering to your knowledge.’”
Ellie Taylor and Johannes Radebe
When asked if Johannes might be finally lifting the trophy in their pairing this year, Ellie told HELLO! that she was not optimistic! When asked about Johannes' being in the final in 2021, she joked: "I feel like that means [he's] been there, done that, so [he doesn't] need to do it again! He was amazing last year. Johannes can breathe because I’ll never be as good as John so he can be like, ‘Just have fun this year.’"
It sounds like she was thrilled to be paired with him, adding: "I'm so excited to get Johannes. I haven't seen the meet yet. I imagine I squeal a lot. I was just too busy jumping and then I think I hugged him for an awkward amount of time."
Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu
Molly has said the newcomer Carlos will calm her bouncy energy, so they sound like a match made in heaven! She said: "It was so cool because I’d come in for a photoshoot on my own and met a few of the pros getting lunch or whatever and he was the only one that I hadn't met yet. So it was a genuine surprise and it was so lovely, the energy was right from the off and I feel like he's gonna balance me out a little bit. I'm loud. And he's a bit calmer. So, I like that he's going to keep me on the ground."
Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice
The first same-sex pairing on the show, Richie and Giovanni are following in John and Johannes' footsteps as an all-male pairing. Speaking about whether he was given the option to dance with either a male or female partner, he explained: "They said it’s up to you whether you want to dance with a female partner, or a male partner, and I went home and I spoke to my other half and we celebrated our ten-year anniversary in October and he said, ‘You have to, this year, dance with a man.’
"I thought back to John and Johannes last year and Nicola and Katya the year before, and I wish when I was growing up as a teenager and working out what I was and what I wasn't that I would have had that representation on primetime TV. So it was a bit of a no-brainer for me. Giovanni came in and surprised me at Radio 2 and when he walked through the door, oh my god. I think I deafened Zoe Ball from screaming, I think I set off an alarm, cracked a window. He walked in and I don't remember what happened. I think it was a blur. I needed paracetamol! But I’m fine now and he’s lovely."
Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer
Our first all-female pairing since Nicola Adams and Katya Jones, we can't wait to see Jayde and Karen dance together. Speaking about her decision to pair with another woman, Jayde told HELLO! and other reporters: "I think my partnership with Karen is more about sisterhood. If you're in the dance world which I was as a child, the all-girl and all-male partnerships are quite commonplace. It's a new thing in these dance shows… but I think the world is changing and to me it just doesn't seem like anything that is abnormal. It seems like a completely natural thing."
She continued: "And to be honest with you, if I was in a male partnership, show me one of the lads that's lifting me. I'm now gonna be able to throw Karen Hauer around that dance floor. She's going over my head, I don't care, I cannot wait to lift her. When I danced with my sister, I was the base and I used to lift her all the time, and the last time I danced was with my sister, so this feels very natural for me."
Tony Adams and Katya Jones
We can't wait to see the incredible choreography that Katya comes up with Tony! Joking about their pairing, Tony admitted that he was "scared to death" of dancing with her! He said that Katya was tough, adding: "I think that's what I need in the early days of training… I did a bit of French style and she said, ‘Whatever that was, I never want to see it again.”
Kaye Adams and Kai Widdrington
Kaye is clearly thrilled to be paired with Kai, who sadly had to pull out of the semi-final due to injury in 2021. Speaking about meeting him, she said: "Jesus Chris, I could have given birth to him. Having known it for two days. I wish I had. He is such a lovely, lovely guy. I'm not even gonna say boy, because he's just a great guy.
"He's so talented, a great sense of humour and he's really made me feel so comfortable, and I didn't think I would be able to feel so comfortable with someone so much younger, but it's just taken out of the equation because he's just a talented professional, really lovely guy and so I'm thrilled."
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