Former Dancing on Ice star and Diversity dancer Perri Kiely has responded to the idea of joining Strictly Come Dancing 2021 – and the inevitable furore due to his dance experience.
Perri came in second place during the 2019 series of the ITV ice dancing show, while TV presenter and former EastEnders star Joe Swash went on to win.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, about the idea of competing on Strictly, 25-year-old Perri said: "Yes, I am a dancer, but I have never been professionally trained, especially in all of the styles that they do.
"There have been people on the show before that have been a singer or whatever, but at some point in their lives they might have done tap, and modern, and a bit of ballet. I’ve never done any of that. So as far as all of the styles are concerned, I'm probably in the same place as everybody else.
"If it was on a technical level, that would be horrendous, so I'd definitely love to give it a go. But I'm not sure people would see that. They'd probably see an unfair advantage. People thought I was cheating on Dancing on Ice, let alone Strictly Come Dancing."
But what about the other biggie: I'm a Celebrity? Perri said: "Jordan [Banjo] has been in the jungle, and I love that normally everyone comes out and they're like, 'Oh my god, it was the greatest experience of my life. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.'
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"Jordan came out and was like, 'That was the worst thing I've ever experienced. Never send me back in there again.' So I've got, like, two perspectives of it. But I'd like the challenge. So yeah, get me in there, why not?"
Elsewhere, Perri has been working in partnership with Samsung, to share dance tips while making TikTok videos at home during lockdown.
He added: "I teamed up with Samsung to give everyone some tips and some tricks on how to create the best dance content you possibly can, and kind of give them the little things that helped me."
Diversity’s Perri Kiely will be hosting a virtual tutorial on UK’s trending dances available on the Samsung KX Hub from May 4, shot on the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One. It's due to return later in 2021.
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Laurence Mozafari (he/him) is a multi-award winning journalist, editor, and presenter. A former Editor-in-Chief of Digital Spy, Laurence previously held roles as the site's Editor, Deputy Editor, and Associate Editor focusing on news, social, and video. Laurence hosted the BBC Sounds podcast Obsessed with Peaky Blinders in 2019. He also hosts his own podcast production, Time of My Life, where he interviews fascinating elders about their life lessons, including Only Fools and Horses' Sir David Jason, Star Trek’s George Takei and Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh.
Laurence was named Editorial Director – Youth Audience at Reach in early 2025. Prior to joining Digital Spy, he was previously at Bauer Media working as Digital Editor of Heat magazine's website Heatworld.com, and has also worked at and written for Sky, NME, Q magazine, Grazia, Closer, FHM and dedicated careers website GoThinkBig. He secured a first-class BA journalism degree at Staffordshire University, along with several NCTJ qualifications, and now has 14 years' experience in digital publishing covering TV, movies, music, gaming, tech, showbiz, and travel.
Laurence has been a broadcasting contributor on television and radio, including KISS, Heat Radio, BBC Radio London, Radio 5 Live, and BBC Breakfast.
He is also a visiting lecturer at various universities teaching journalism, including City, University of London, Nottingham Trent, Staffordshire University and London Metropolitan. Laurence has won numerous awards in his journalism career, including the BSME Talent Award’s Best Deputy Editor, the PPA's 30 Under 30, and the New Editor and Editor of the Year at the AOP and BSMEs. He led Digital Spy to win PPA's Digital Content Team of the Year twice, along with the British Media Awards’ Brand of the Year in 2021.
Laurence joined the committee for the British Society of Magazine Editors in 2022 and was named vice-chair in 2025. He has since hosted panels with CEOs of Immediate Media and the Media Trust at the PPA Festival, as well as presenting his own radio show on Green Man Radio at Green Man Festival in 2022. Laurence is also a Brits voting academy member.
Laurence has been lucky enough to interview numerous celebrities, actors, and musicians throughout his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger loved his hair, Jimmy Carr loved his coat and Antonio Banderas gave a shout-out to his mum. Laurence has covered set visits for The Witcher on Netflix and Marvel’s Inhumans, he got Daisy Ridley to do a Chewbacca impression and loves Marvel, PlayStation, Glastonbury and craft beer. Linkedin
