As Strictly Come Dancing kicks off for another series and professional dancer Dianne Buswell has announced she is expecting a baby, here is what happens if the star is forced to drop out of the series.
The 36-year-old star and her 34-year-old boyfriend, YouTuber Joe Sugg, announced on September 14 that they are expecting a baby boy.
On September 20, it was revealed that professional dancer Dianne is paired with Neighbours legend Stefan Dennis, 66, on the hit BBC show – meaning she could potentially be on the programme until its finale on December 20.
A source told The Sun newspaper that the Strictly team are ‘thrilled’ that Dianne and Joe, who met when they were partnered up on 2018’s show, are welcoming the first ever ‘Strictly baby’.
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What will happen if Dianne Buswell is forced to drop out of Strictly Come Dancing?
‘Producers have plans in place, and there are several pros who could easily step in and take over at a moment’s notice, because the show must go on,’ the source said on Dianne’s pregnancy.
‘On Saturday night’s show, her bump was already very noticeable, though it certainly didn’t seem to hold her back physically, most notably when she was lifted high on the shoulders of fellow pro Kai Widdrington as she held up the Glitterball.
‘The BBC’s primary concern is the health and wellbeing of Dianne, and they fully intend to support her through the process with regular check-ins from the welfare team.’
A spokesman for the BBC told the publication: ‘We do not comment on personal medical matters.’
A Strictly source has now told Metro that these plans ‘have long existed for everyone’ and no unique contingency plan is in place for Dianne specifically.
All professional dancers would be replaced in the series by another non-partnered professional if they had to duck out for whatever reason.
There is a track record of this happening on Strictly over the years, like when Kevin Clifton stepped in to cover Neil Jones with Alex Scott, or whenLauren Oakley stepped in for Amy Dowden with JB Gill last year.
Dianne took to Instagram on September 14 to announce that they were expecting a baby boy, seemingly in early 2026, although she did not reveal how advanced her pregnancy is.
In a pregnancy reveal video on Instagram set to Sir Elton John’s song Tiny Dancer, Dianne and Joe set up an easel and pretended to paint a picture with playful dramatics.
They then picked up the canvas that revealed a drawing of two stick men – one with Dianne’s distinctive red hair – holding hands with a baby.
The couple confirmed that their first child is due next year and even revealed that they are expecting a son.
Joe captioned the video: ‘Our little baby boy we cannot wait to meet you.’
Days ago Dianne revealed that she’d consulted her doctor about working on the show while pregnant.
‘I’m still doing everything I did before. Obviously with lifts there’s going to be a bit more caution. But my doctor has said everything is normal,’ Dianne said on her and Chris McCausland’s podcast Winning Isn’t Everything.
‘He said, basically, if you’ve done it before, in terms of being a dancer and you’ve done this, done that, then crack on and keep doing what you’re doing.’
Speaking ahead of Saturday evening’s opening show, Dianne revealed her doctor might have given different advice if she’d just taken up dancing.
‘My muscles wouldn’t be used to it,’ she explained, adding: ‘But because you’ve been dancing since you were five, this is what your body is meant to, he said you shouldn’t stop what you do.’
Despite approaching lifts with caution, Dianne revealed she didn’t foresee herself ‘doing huge lifts’ with her partnered celebrity, speaking before she was revealed to be paired with Stefan.
‘You can’t see yourself getting past three weeks then?’ joked Chris.
‘No,’ Dianne clarified, laughing. ‘But you look at the dynamic of the partnership and you can see straight away. A lot of partnerships don’t do many lifts, if that’s what is best for the partnership.’
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