I\u2019ve not encountered Hall before, and maybe that\u2019s on me; he does have 165,000 followers on Instagram where he, unsurprisingly, mostly posts pictures of dogs. But I\u2019m clearly not alone in my bewilderment. As his spot on the Strictly line-up was claimed, fans on social media were quick to declare this year\u2019s group of celebrities the \u201cweakest\u201d in the show\u2019s 22-year history, and crack jokes about the whittling away of the BBC budget. Given the BBC is currently aiming to make \u00a3500m in budget cuts<\/a>, and is reportedly putting Strictly out to competitive tender next year, \u00e0 la Doctor Who<\/a>, they might be onto something.<\/p>\n But between two ex-Love Island contestants, two EastEnders stars and Kim Kardashian\u2019s former hair stylist \u2013 who infamously filmed his wedding for The Kardashians then filed for divorce one week after the episode aired (Google it) \u2013 Strictly\u2019s current cast is lacking a little lustre. Frankly, it\u2019s feeling far more Dancing on Ice than Strictly in its heyday.<\/p>\n Yet there\u2019s surely another reason the big-name slebs aren\u2019t donning their ruffled shirts and spray tans this year. Like Claudia Winkleman, who said goodbye to the ballroom in 2025, they\u2019re choosing the BBC\u2019s other star vehicle: The Celebrity Traitors. For decades, Strictly has been a tried-and-tested format with big commitment leading to big rewards. Sacrifices had to be made, sure, in terms of time and the possible state of your marriage. But then a new, shinier project arrives; one that takes a small percentage of the time and comes with none of the baggage that has plagued Strictly in recent years.<\/p>\n For a long time, the common wisdom was that nothing could enhance a celebrity\u2019s career like Strictly. This was an upmarket take on reality TV, providing the contestants everything from week-on-week screentime to the chance to appear vulnerable and construct an underdog story in front of the public. You didn\u2019t even have to eat wallaby testicles in the process! Many stars have used their dancing skills to move into a career in musical theatre, from boybanders Jay McGuinness and Aston Merrygold to Olympic golden boy Louis Smith. But there\u2019s an indirect boost to be gained too, one allowing influencers (sorry, \u201csocial media stars\u201d) to go mainstream and soap actors to get known beyond their niche audiences.<\/p>\n But back-to-back scandals have caused the image of Strictly as the nicest show on TV to crack. Prospective contestants have a better sense of what\u2019s asked of them when they agree to take part, the answer being \u201ca lot\u201d. It happens to everyone, and will likely continue even with the impending shake-ups to the presenter<\/a> and pro dancer line-ups<\/a>. You could have the dream partner and a delightful experience, and still find the intensive training regime taking its toll. The Strictly curse<\/a> is obviously a pop culture phenomenon these days, but spending that long in rehearsals with anyone is going to impact your relationships out of the show. Throw in the inevitable trolling from the show\u2019s most opinionated viewers<\/a>, and the question of whether it\u2019s worth it lingers.<\/p>\n Still in its infancy, The Celebrity Traitors avoids those negative connotations. Filming takes place over a few weeks in Scotland: removed enough to get caught up in the game, but not so long it takes over your life. And yes, the game, which requires players to backstab their old friends (hello, Alan Carr and Paloma Faith<\/a>), can be tricksy and infuriating and bring out the worst side in people. But it\u2019s always done with the sense that it\u2019s nothing more than a game. The public are far less quick to blame players, and little animosity remains.<\/p>\n Produced by independent production company Studio Lambert, The Celebrity Traitors is not solely reliant on BBC funding, and has therefore been able to attract a far higher calibre of star than Strictly ever did back in the halcyon days of 2004. Once certified national treasures Stephen Fry and Celia Imrie signed on for series one, a new standard was set for what was possible. The love of the game made them want to play, and now, Richard E Grant, Jerry Hall, Michael Sheen and Maya Jama are lining up to have a go<\/a>. Given the ubiquity of many of the cast of season two, you have to assume that\u2019s a draw here too; particularly Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, who surely cannot physically be on television more than they already are.<\/p>\n But for the slightly less famous among the very famous cast, The Celebrity Traitors can prove an incredibly effective branding exercise. Musician Cat Burns saw her social media following skyrocket during series one. This proved well-timed \u2013 the final coincided with the release of her new album. Rugby player Joe Marler\u2019s hit podcast, released weeks after that same series wrapped, has barely left the charts since it began. Bright young Bella Ramsey, Myha\u2019la and Sebastian Croft all seem ripe for this kind of boost.<\/p>\n So I don\u2019t blame the stars for seeing what The Celebrity Traitors has done for their peers, noting how comparatively little time it took and how much fun they had, and making a beeline for the Scottish Highlands. With a new presenting line-up incoming, Strictly is in a state of flux, while the Traitors format goes from strength to strength. Of course they\u2019d pick the latter. Unless they\u2019re really angling to play a T-Bird in the national tour of Grease, I think it\u2019s the wise choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-728641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dog](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/573699.jpg\")
Dog trainer Hall\u2019s casting raised eyebrows among \u2018Strictly\u2019 fans (BBC)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/565526.jpg\")
The cast of \u2018The Celebrity Traitors\u2019 series two is announced \u2013\u00a0with a few spelling mistakes… (BBC)<\/p>\n