STRICTLY JUDGE DU BEKE IN THE DARK AS SERIES SET TO LAUNCH...

JUDGE Anton Du Beke has admitted that he does not recognise some of the stars picked for Strictly dance duty these days.

- BY MARK JEFFERIES

Echoing public criticism that the BBC show's lineup can sometimes lack a little lustre, he said: "When I first started we sort of knew them but now as you get older... there are a number of people on the show that I am not familiar with."

Speaking of last year's model contestant Tasha Ghouri, he added: "I mean last year, Tasha? I did not know Tasha. No, I don't know a number of people on the show."

But he has got used to being a bit baffled, as more online personalities are introduced on the show, explaining: "You don't know who they are but that is normal."

He said of the 25-year-old YouTuber taking to the dancefloor for 2025: "There is that lovely boy George Clarke doing it this year. I thought it was the buildings fella, George Clarke the architect."

And although he has now watched performances by the contestants who will be strutting their stuff on telly from this Saturday, he hasn't seen enough to pick a winner. Anton, 59, recalled how he was asked for an early opinion at the recording of the launch show and said: "They made it down the stairs unaided. I don't know what you want me to say.

"Ask me next week when they have danced a bit."