Associate Editor Tom Bryant falls in love with the charismatic five new Strictly professionals – who reveal all about joining the biggest show on TV
Following the biggest shake-up of Strictly’s professional line-up in years, five new dancers have been thrust into the limelight. And after spending time with all of them, I suspect that winning over viewers will be the easiest routine they learn all year.
There is 22-year-old Ukrainian Aleksandra Isaeva – a hilarious force of nature who her new colleagues describe as “a firework”. Then there is fiercely bright South African Lethabo Monametsi, 23, deep-thinking Italian Cristian Priori, 34, and laid-back Canadian Mark Karmalita, 23, whose new colleagues already predict will become something of a Strictly heartthrob.
And for 21-year-old Brit dancer Maddie Ingoldsby, who is paired with Love Island’s Cach Mercer, joining the show is a lovely full-circle moment.
“Shirley [Ballas] used to actually be my teacher,” Maddie laughs. “It’ll be like going back to when I was younger.”
Head judge Shirley has coached many of the pros over the years, and Maddie knows from experience exactly how demanding she can be. “She’s like my strict dance mum… I’ll just be trying to get it perfect for her,” she admits.
Viewers will instantly warm to Maddie. But the Bournemouth dancer still seems slightly bemused that any of this is actually happening – and reveals that she initially ignored the email from producers asking to meet her.
“I thought it was spam… I didn’t think it was real,” she smiles. “It’s very weird. I don’t believe it’s real right now. “I’m, like, ‘Oh, am I really going to be on TV tomorrow night?’”
Maddie’s CV suggests she has little reason to be daunted. She is a UK National Ballroom Champion and eight-time Amateur 10-Dance World Champion who has also been crowned World Rising Star and Under-21 World Ballroom Champion. The others arrive with equally formidable dance backgrounds.
Aleksandra is a multiple Ukrainian National Latin Champion, and is ranked among the world’s top 21 Latin dancers. Her dance partner Cristian is a four-time Italian Latin Champion, while Canadian Mark is a two-time National Latin Champion.
Lethabo, meanwhile, is an undefeated South African Latin Champion – and also has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Law major from the University of the Witwatersrand. “She is super smart… any interview with her should be at least three hours long as she is so knowledgeable,” Aleksandra says.
Lethabo also says that when she got the call from Strictly, she had to swear her family to secrecy and “there were tears, including from myself”. She first fell in love with dance after watching the South African version of Strictly Come Dancing.
Lethabo says: “My dance journey started because of Strictly, and then to come all these years later and find myself entering Strictly, it was just… ‘I can’t believe this is happening’.”
Cristian and Aleksandra both teach at a dance studio in Italy and had to sneakily arrange replacements without telling their students where they were going. Cristian says: “We had to keep it secret from them ‘til the last moment before we did a call with everyone. They were delighted for us, and gave us a cake with our picture and Strictly on. It was very moving.”
Mark had been teaching in Toronto and found himself having similarly mysterious conversations. “I had to keep it, like, ‘Guys, I have to leave, but I can’t tell you where and why’,” he says. “Everyone was trying to guess. Then when the news came out, it all made sense.”
There is one thing Mark’s fellow newcomers think he may be rather less prepared for, though. “When we go to Blackpool, all the girls will be screaming his name,” Aleksandra laughs, calling him “the cutest boy”. And Cristian agrees, joking: “I think he will steal the hearts not just of teenagers, but also all the mums of England.”
Mark, who is paired with Olympian Tabby Stoecker, is rather more bashful about the prospect of becoming a sex symbol, though. “I don’t want to say that’s going to happen,” he laughs.
“I appreciate the compliment, but I don’t know. I’m just going to try to be the best version of myself. Whatever happens, happens.”
The five newbies have already had their first taste of the showbiz world, joining the rest of the Strictly cast at the National Television Awards as the show picked up another prize. But anyone thinking they stayed up celebrating into the wee small hours would be mistaken.
“We didn’t join the party because the day after it was a very early morning call at the studios and we had to record,” Cristian says.
But Mark adds: “I actually got to meet Gordon Ramsay. I thought that was really epic.” And for Aleksandra, Strictly also gives her a platform to talk about where she comes from. She says: “Ukraine is everything to me: it’s my identity, my blood, my DNA. For four years, we haven’t had much good news, but I’m so grateful to be able to share my love for dance while also sharing the Ukrainian roots and the place I come from.”
All five dancers are also prepared for the inevitable moment Craig Revel Horwood delivers one of his less-than-complimentary verdicts.
“The competitive dance world can be cutthroat,” Lethabo says. “You get accustomed to learning to take criticism and learning to take any form of feedback and understanding that it’s not personal.”
Maddie agrees. “I’ll always take it…even if it’s grumpy and grouchy, and Craig saying, ‘That was awful, darling’.”
And if viewers want an idea of quite how excited the newcomers are, Aleksandra probably sums it up best. “Imagine how planet Earth was created,” she said. “This is bigger.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login