Strictly Come Dancing approach Jack Dee for 2023 series

A headshot of comedian Jack Dee
Jack Dee has been approached to do Strictly... but he has a unique dancing partner in mind! (Image credit: Getty Images)

Jack Dee has revealed that Strictly Come Dancing has approached him regarding the upcoming season of the dancing competition.

With the 2023 season expected to air in the autumn, fans are already excited to find out who'll be in the running to join the coveted Strictly Come Dancing winners list.

Speaking to Seann Walsh on their Oh My Dog podcast, Jack said: "I had a phone call. My agent said I’d been asked to do Strictly."

Seann, who took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, replied: "Oh my God. Jack, can I just tell you, it does wonders for your career!"

Jack added: "The first thing I said was ‘I’ll ask Seann what his advice would be.’ And she said ‘I’ll take that as a no in that case.’ I said ‘It’s probably a safe bet, yes.’"

Seann replied: "No, not at all. That is not what I would say. I would say ‘Absolutely go for it.’ I think you’ll be fantastic."

Jack went on to say: "Yes, I know, but I can’t help but pay attention to the evidence of what has happened to various people I know who’ve done the show.

Seann Walsh and partner Katya on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018.

Seann took part in Strictly alongside Katya Jones. (Image credit: BBC/Guy Levy)

"I had two thoughts on it, cos obviously everyone loves Claudia Winkleman and she’s everywhere, she’s great, but I thought they should consolidate all the shows that she does so you have a thing where people come on and dance and then members of the public will ring in and vote for who they want to have murdered."

Claudia's other show Jack was referring to was, of course, The Traitors which will return for a second season following a hugely successful debut.

The two comedians are both huge dog lovers and joked that Jack should bring his pet Chihuahua Dolly along with him and that she can be his dancing partner.

Seann said: "Why don’t you make that one of the prerequisites for doing Strictly? ‘Yeah, I’ll do it but I’ll have to bring Dolly’."

Jack replied: "My partner is gonna be Dolly, yeah. I don’t think it’ll work, so that’s a no."

Right now it's too early to know who'll be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing 2023 so we'll have to wait and see if Jack changes his mind!

Strictly Come Dancing is expected to return to BBC One in the autumn.

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress