Strictly Come Dancing enforces blanket reality TV star ban

So many reality TV stars have been using the potential of being on the next season of Strictly Come Dancing to further their own promotion that executives at the BBC dancing show have decided to stop inviting them to become contestants entirely. 

A Strictly source told the Sun that the boycott came about because "certain reality celebrities have been peddling these stories about being ‘in talks’ for the show when they have never been approached."

They continued: “Bosses are now fed up of hearing the same people bandying around their own names just to shift a few copies of some weight-loss DVD. In light of this, they’ve put in place their own reality star ban to stop them from cashing in on the show. 

Big Brother winner Allison Hammond appeared on the show in 2014, but by that point she was better known for her post-BB career as a reporter on This Morning. 

She was competing alongside former The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright, whose TOWIE co-stars Sam Faiers and Joey Essex were both recently rumoured to appear in the new season. However, the new edict means that this chatter will be strictly hypothetical. 

The 16th season of Strictly Come Dancing is expected to air in early September, and will feature three new professional dancers after the departures of Chloe Hewett and veteran dancer Brendan Cole.

The new additions are Johannes Radebe, formerly a dancer on South Africa's version of Strictly, Italian Latin champion Graziano Di Prima and Russian dancer Luba Mushtuk.