Strictly Come Dancing’s Dianne Buswell smiled as she made her way to rehearsals, as she becomes the first star to compete while pregnant.
The pro dancer, 36, and her partner, YouTuber Joe Sugg, 34, announced over the weekend that they are expecting their first child together. The exciting news comes ahead of the launch of the new series of the BBC show.
Dianne and Joe met on the hit dancing show when they were paired up during the 16th series in 2018. On Monday morning, 15 September, Dianne was all smiles in a car selfie as she made her way to rehearsals.
The professional has been matched with one of this year’s famous participants, reports the Mirror. Whilst Dianne is already aware of her Strictly partnership, audiences will need to tune in to this Saturday’s launch programme to discover which celebrity the Aussie star will be dancing alongside.
On Sunday, Dianne and Joe posted a clip to Instagram showing them creating artwork on a canvas. Following several brushstrokes, they revealed their creation, which showed two stick figures clasping the hands of a tiny stick figure next to the date “2026”.
The post’s caption, accompanied by Sir Elton John’s Tiny Dancer, revealed the gender of their baby as it read: “Our little baby boy. We cannot wait to meet you.”
Strictly judges Shirley Ballas and Motsi Mabuse, along with professional dancer Johannes Radebe, were amongst those offering their congratulations in the comments section.
Dancer Amy Dowden commented: “Still screaming, dancing and celebrating! So so happy for you both! Magical. Auntie Ames can’t wait,” while Stacey Dooley, the documentary-maker who clinched the series 16 Strictly crown with Kevin Clifton, simply exclaimed “YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES” alongside a teary-eyed emoji.
Like Dianne and Joe, Stacey and Kevin went on to form a relationship and now have a daughter called Minnie.
Dianne is to compete in this year’s series, which returns to BBC One on September 20. The Australian dancer won the glitterball trophy last year alongside her celebrity dance partner, comedian Chris McCausland, who was the first blind person to compete on and win the series.