The BBC Breakfast presenter almost gave his Strictly signing away.
When it comes to Strictly Come Dancing, there’s lots of secrecy around which celebrities are taking to the dance floor each year, with the line-up announced just weeks before the start date.
This year, fans began learning about the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 line-up at the start of August – with Robert Webb and Tom Fletcher some of the first to be announced on Wednesday, 4th August.
Some days later BBC Breakfast Dan Walker was confirmed to be joining Strictly 2021. However, the presenter almost let the cat out of the bag before it was announced.
Speaking to press including RadioTimes.com, Walker said: “I nearly gave the game away, because we all share a YouTube account at home and the kids were looking at something on there and the last thing that they saw was on ‘How To Charleston for Beginners’ or something like that. And my eldest daughter was like, ‘Dad do you have something to tell us?’
He continued: “That was a few months ago, but I literally told hardly anybody. Obviously, I talked it through with my wife Sarah and that was sort of back when the first conversations were happening – but nobody. I didn’t even tell the kids until the weekend before the Tuesday that it was announced.”
This wouldn’t have been the first time Dan Walker has revealed top secret info about the BBC One dance competition, in fact, he’s been nicknamed “Strictly Leaks” by the other contestants.
Previously, Dan let the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 launch date slip, during an episode of BBC Breakfast.
As he put the date of co-anchor Louise Minchin’s BBC Breakfast departure into his phone calendar, he said: “I was just going to put your date in the diary. I meet and greet the partner in a couple of days time, and actually the first show is on the 18th and then the live shows start on the 25th.”
Speaking on this moment, Dan explained: “I inadvertently gave away the start date, which was a total error. The reason why I did that is because I go in the local post office quite regularly and there’s these three ladies in there, who I always have a good chat with, and they’re Strictly obsessed. The day before I mentioned it on BBC Breakfast, they were like, ‘Oh, you know we’re looking forward to it starting on the 18th of September.’ So, in my head, I’m thinking everyone knows it starts on the 18th of September, and then I talked about it on BBC Breakfast. I hadn’t realised it actually been announced yet!”
Strictly Come Dancing starts on BBC One on Saturday 18th September. Want something else to watch? Check out our full TV Guide or visit our Entertainment hub for the latest news.