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Former Strictly Come Dancing star issues warning to new celeb line-up

Strictly is set to start again very soon


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Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
On 13 September 2023
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Strictly Come Dancing star Caroline Quentin joined the Loose Women panel on Wednesday to discuss an upcoming project with her daughter, Rose, and reflected on her time on the hit dancing competition. While reminiscing fondly about her experience, and her friendship with her dance partner, Johannes Radabe, Caroline gave a warning to the new line-up.

After admitting that it was a "weird, weird" time to be on the show due to the COVID pandemic in 2020, Caroline gave some advice to the new Strictly line-up. Watch the clip here…

WATCH: Caroline Quentin’s warning for Strictly’s new line-up

She joked: "Ice packs! Have lots and lots of ice packs!" On a more serious note, she continued: "Look after your mental and physical health because it's very, very hard going." A panellist added: "It's tough, isn't it."

The couple were the fourth pair to be eliminated from the show in 2020, with the actress describing her experience as an "honour and privilege".

caroline quentin strictly© Photo: BBC
Caroline starred on the show in 2020

While chatting to Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman following their elimination, she added: "I really believe it, I think they are absolutely fantastic, but of course my greatest gift coming on this show is this man." At the time, Johannes said: "Oh my gosh, what a woman! Thank you, thank you again, thank you, thank you, thank you. I don’t know what to say, because it was a beautiful one, I had a beautiful journey with you, thank you my darling, thank you."

The new line-up was recently announced, with stars including Adam Thomas, Angela Rippon and Les Dennis signed up for the exciting new series. It has yet to be revealed who will be partnered with who, but we can't wait to see who Johannes will be teamed up with next!

caroline quentin strictly johannes© Photo: BBC
She performed with Johannes

Following Caroline, Johannes has since danced with GBBO star John Whaite, and Ted Lasso star Ellie Taylor. In a recent interview, John admitted that he fell in love with Johannes during the show. He said: "I fell in love with [Johannes]. I can't speak for him – because I'm not allowed to, legally – but it felt like there was love there. So yes, I fell in love with Johannes. I still love Johannes. Of course, I do. All the way through, me and [his fiancé] Paul discussed it."

Every Strictly Come Dancing winner so far

Rose and Giovanni with the Glitterball in 2021
Rose and Giovanni lifted the Glitterball in 2021
  • 2004: Natisha Kaplinsky (partner Brendan Cole)
  • 2004: Jill Halfpenny (partner Darren Bennett) 
  • 2005: Darren Gough (partner Lilia Kopylova) 
  • 2006: Mark Ramprakash (partner Karen Hardy) 
  • 2007: Alesha Dixon (partner Matthew Cutler) 
  • 2008: Tom Chambers (partner Camilla Dallerup) 
  • 2009: Chris Hollins (partner Ola Jordan) 
  • 2010: Kara Tointon (partner Artem Chigvintsev) 
  • 2011: Harry Judd (partner Aliona Vilani)
  • 2012: Louis Smith (partner Flavia Cacace)
  • 2013: Abbey Clancy (partner Aljaž Škorjanec) 
  • 2014: Caroline Flack (partner Pasha Kovalev) 
  • 2015: Jay McGuiness (partner Aliona Vilani) 
  • 2016: Ore Oduba (partner Joanne Clifton) 
  • 2017: Joe McFadden (partner Katya Jones)
  • 2018: Stacey Dooley (partner Kevin Clifton)
  • 2019: Kelvin Fletcher (partner Oti Mabuse)
  • 2020: Bill Bailey (partner Oti Mabuse) 
  • 2021: Rose Ayling-Ellis (partner Giovanni Pernice) 
  • 2022: Hamza Yassin (partner Jowita Przystał)

"Paul of all people deserved to understand how I was feeling. You go through life being told that you'll fall in love with someone, you'll get married, you'll have children and that's it. But love can't just be directed to one person. The heart can easily split into two or three or four. And those loves aren't mutually exclusive." 

Caroline Quentin and Johannes Radebe on Strictly © BBC
Caroline Quentin and Johannes Radebe on Strictly

Johannes previously spoke about their relationship. Speaking on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, he said: "I have fallen in love with my art form again because of John. The opportunity to be so creative with what we had to come up with every week. I was trying to figure things out as I was going along. Not once did he make me feel otherwise." 

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