Grab your popcorn, dust off your dancing shoes and find your most glittery outfit because Strictly Come Dancing season is here. This year’s competition is particularly special as the show celebrates its 20th anniversary. This season also ushers in a new era for the competition as it fosters a revamped workplace culture following the wave of allegations facing the show in recent months, which have forced the Strictly team to include more welfare measures to support contestants – like employing chaperones to manage relations in rehearsal rooms. Of course, a new season also means a whole new set of 15 celebrities are about to Rumba, Cha Cha and Waltz across our screens every Saturday night. Among them is multi-sport athlete and TV personality Montell Douglas, who won over BBC viewers as Fire on the 2024 reboot of Gladiators.
Before her time fighting off hopeful Gladiators contestants on our screens, the 38-year-old sprinter represented Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she reached the second round in the women’s 100 metres. She previously held a British woman’s record for fastest 100m sprint and won a Commonwealth Gold in the 4x100m relay race in 2010. In 2016, Douglas switched her sport and took up the bobsleigh. She excelled quickly in the new field, and finished in the top 10 during her Bobsleigh World Cup debut in January 2017. By 2018, she was GB’s reserve athlete for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. She took a starring role at the 2022 Olympic games in Beijing, where she represented GB alongside Mica McNeill in their two-woman bobsleigh team and finished in sixth place. After pivoting from sprinting to bobsleigh, Douglas became the first female UK athlete to compete at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Douglas was raised in Lewisham, south London, before she went on to study sports science at university. At the same time, she laid the foundations of her successful sports career and made her first major championship appearance at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Her introduction to TV was in 2011 when she appeared on an episode of Who Dares Wins. Then on Gladiators, strategic and fierce gameplay as Fire saw her become a fan-favourite character batting off the other contestants by wrestling them with a giant Q-tip or rugby tackling them to the ground. Speaking about her foray into dancing, Douglas said: “Strictly ARE YOU READY, Fire is here to light up the ballroom.” “Wow I am so honoured to have been asked to do the show. It is such an amazing thing to be a part of and I can’t wait to get started. Hopefully a few of my Gladiator moves will come in handy with the Tango or Paso Doble!” she said.
Burning Up the Ballroom: Montell Douglas' 'Fuego' Samba on Strictly
From bringing the Fire in Gladiators to burning up the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom with ‘Fuego’, Montell Douglas and Johannes perform a sultry Samba in week 2 of the hit BBC1 show. Once more Eurovision unites in dance, as Eleni Foureira sees her Eurovision 2018 runner-up, ‘Fuego’ take centre stage on the Strictly dance floor.
During week 2 of BBC1’s most famous celebrity dancing competition, keen viewers will have heard a familiar track in the show. Tonight, former Winter Olympian and Gladiators star, Montell Douglas and partner Johannes took to the floor to prove Montell is more than ready to rumble in the ballroom too. The duo stunned the audience and judges with their sultry Samba to Eleni Foureira’s Eurovision 2018 runner up, ‘Fuego’. Of course, the routine featured Montell’s signature Gladiators move with some nods to Eleni’s Lisbon choreography and a very similar looking catsuit!
The pair scored 30 out of a possible 40 points. After the week 1 scores were carried over to this weekend, this places them joint 4th on the leaderboard with a total of 56 points out of 80. Moreover the judges praised Montell’s level of commitment to one of the hardest dances in the competition.
The Judges' Reactions
“Definitely on fire! I loved that you could control that dance.” - Motsi Mabuse
“Your chemistry with Johannes is off the charts! Week 2 what a performance!” - Shirley Ballas
“Montell did well DAH-LING!” - Craig Revel-Horwood
Once more, Strictly proves itself as a platform for musicians looking for a streaming and sales boost in the UK charts. Not that Loreen needs to worry, with two number 2 chart hits in the UK with both Eurovision winners, as well as a UK and European Tour currently underway!
Tomorrow night will see the first elimination from the competition as the scores from the judges are combined with the viewers’ votes – much like Eurovision itself. UK viewers can tune in to Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday and Sunday nights on BBC1 and the iPlayer.
Strictly and Eurovision: A Long-Standing Partnership
Of course, this is not the first time Eurovision has found its way to the Strictly ballroom. Over the years, the producers who research the song choices for the show, have proven to be quite fond of Europe’s favourite singing competition. During the first show of this series alone, the producers picked out The Mamas and Chanel, as well as Benjamin Ingrosso’s latest hit, ‘Honey Boy’. Throughout the shows’ history, the timing patterns of many dances have married well to the Eurovision winning songs of, Buck’s Fizz, ABBA and Lulu. Meanwhile the entries of Domenico Modugno, Gina G and Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið have also featured in the show. In 2022 the Eurovision 2021 winners, Måneskin saw their cover of ‘Beggin’ taken to the dancefloor by Adam Peaty and Katya. Last year, Layton Williams and Nikita received a standing ovation for their Argentine Tango interpretation of Loreen’s 2023 winner, ‘Tattoo’. In a longer form feature, we highlighted these routines in more detail here.
What did you think of Montell and Johannes’ performance to Eleni Foureira on Strictly? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the new Eurovision season.
Dancing Queen: The Judges are Impressed, But Tess Daly is Left Speechless
Strictly Come Dancing judge Tess Daly was left stunned and shared 'that never happens' after Montell Douglas' performance on Saturday night (September 28). The popular BBC dance contest returned for the second live show of the series with 15 celebrities and their pro dance partners competition in the hopes to lift the Glitterball trophy.
After each of the contestants performed in front of the judges, it was Love Island star Tasha and her partner Aljaz who topped the leaderboard with a score of 35 after bringing the audience to tears with their Viennese Waltz. Paul and Karen landed at the bottom of the board after they were awarded a score of 15 for their Salsa. Also near the top of the leaderboard was Gladiator Montell and her partner Johannes who impressed the judges after performing a Samba, which gave them a total score of 30. But it was a comment from Craig Revel Horwood about Montell’s performance which left host Tess Daly stunned.
After her sizzling Salsa, Craig told Montell: “Montell did well,” as the crowd cheered and he continued: “You were giving it darling, you were giving it the full Brazilian.” He then added: “I absolutely love, love, loved it,” to which Tess gasped and told Montell: “That never happens, that never happens, huge congratulations. We all loved it too. Go and get your scores.” And fans watching at home were just as impressed with the Olympian's performance as they took to X to share their thoughts. @buttonidiots wrote: “MONTELL WAS INSANE OMLL IM OBSESSED #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing,” as @MillieSansoye said: “Send Montell to the final already #Strictly.” @francescajayne_ said: “Montell and Johannes are an insane partnership #Strictly,” as @icon1_will added: “montell is so going all the way and i'll be loving every single second of it #Strictly.”
