Strictly Come Dancing star Richie Anderson explains why he chose to dance with a male partner

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Radio personality Richie Anderson has revealed he was given a choice over whether to compete in a same-sex or opposite-sex pairing ahead of this year’s season of Strictly Come Dancing.

But he says he was encouraged to dance with a man by his partner.

Speaking to the Metro, he explained: “They actually gave me the option over it.

“They said they want me to be on Strictly this year and they were like, ‘Do you want to be with a female or male partner?'”

Richie said it was his long-term boyfriend, Dean Eagles, who encouraged him to enter the competition as part of an all-male duo.

“When I spoke to my other half Dean, it was our 10-year anniversary, and he was like, ‘You have to,’ and it’s the 50th anniversary of Pride in the UK.”

Richie Anderson said it is a “massive honour” to join Strictly Come Dancing as part of only the third-ever same-sex pairing. He follows in the footsteps of Nicola Adams and Katya Jones (2020), and John Whaite and Johannes Radebe (2021). Whaite and Radebe finished as runners-up in their series.

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Anderson is an ex-Sunday league footballer who went viral in 2018 when he came out as gay to his teammates during a documentary exploring homophobia in sport.

He now presents travel reports on BBC Radio 2 and occasionally appears on The One Show.

After the initial casting was announcement, Anderson tweeted to say joining Strictly was a “dream come true”.

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