Strictly Come Dancing: Eight forgotten celebrity contestants from the BBC show
How many of these do you remember?!Strictly Come Dancing has seen hundreds of stars grace its ballroom – but how many of these celebrity contestants had you forgotten about?
This year’s celeb line-up has been a good one, with stars including ER actress Alex Kingston, model and actress Ellie Goldstein and Neighbours legend Stefan Dennis (until he sadly had to pull out).
They all now join a massive Hall Of Strictly Fame.
But while many of Strictly Come Dancing’s celebrity contestants have gone down in history, others have been quickly forgotten about. How many of these did you forget were on the BBC show?
Strictly Come Dancing forgotten contestants: Patsy Palmer
In 2005, EastEnders star Patsy Palmer put her dancing shoes on to raise money for a special cause. The third series of Strictly saw celebrities trying their luck on the show to raise money for Children In Need.
Patsy, known for playing Walford’s Bianca Jackson, was partnered with Anton Du Beke and they even topped the leaderboard one week with their Tango. Unfortunately, the curtain quickly fell and they were eliminated in week five.
The actress, 53, has since reflected on her Strictly experience and revealed she was plagued by motion sickness. She told The Mirror: “When I was doing Strictly Come Dancing I used to get sick from spinning.
“I hadn’t really watched it so I didn’t realise how much spinning was involved.” She added: “If I hadn’t had that I think I could have gone way further in the competition.”
Fern Britton’s Strictly stint
Broadcaster Fern Britton slipped into a pair of ballroom shoes for a second time in 2012. The former This Morning presenter had appeared in the Christmas special two years earlier and fancied her luck on the main series.
Fern, 68, was partnered with Strictly champ Artem Chigvintsev and the pair made it to week five in the competition. But although the couple were popular with the voting public, they never scored very highly with the judges.
Since then, Fern has spoken negatively about her time on Strictly. In her book, Fern Britton The Older I Get, she described it as a “challenging” experience.
Fern wrote: “As the weeks went on, I found it increasingly hard to gather up my self-confidence and there were days I was crying before I even got into the rehearsal room.”
James Martin’s Strictly ‘worries’
TV chef James Martin usually shies away from the razzle dazzle of the showbiz world. As a result, it’s very easy to forget he ever signed up to Strictly Come Dancing.
James, 53, took part in Strictly in the very early days of the show. He competed in the third series with professional dancer Camilla Dallerup in 2005.
In the lead up to the launch, James was keen to ensure he didn’t look “an idiot” on the show, which at the time was watched by 18.5million people.
He told Great British Life last year: “Those dancers were multiple world champions, and there was me, a chef from Yorkshire. I didn’t want to go out there looking like an idiot on live Saturday night, prime-time TV and learnt to never underestimate a live performance.”
Natalie Cassidy’s Strictly regret
EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy looked a world away from her character Sonia Fowler when she lit up the Strictly dance floor. Natalie took part in the seventh series of the show in 2009 and seriously impressed with her dance moves.
Natalie and her pro partner, Vincent Simone, received their highest score for a Foxtrot. The pair were given a respectable mark of 34.
In a Strictly first, they also performed a Rock ‘n’ Roll dance. The genre had never been performed competitively on the show before.
Natalie and Vincent finished Strictly Come Dancing in fifth place in week 11 of the competition. But in hindsight, Natalie isn’t happy about one of the comments she received.
The 42-year-old actress told Rylan Clark on his Ry-Union podcast: “I remember one week it was like, ‘Oh, we’re going to do this dance, but you’re going to pick up Vincent’.
“I think about it now and think, ‘Oh that was out of order’. That was a bit out of order to me.”
Peter Andre’s nerves
Australian pop star Peter Andre appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015. Before making his ballroom debut, he admitted he was “nervous” and said: “I just hope that I don’t get voted off first!”
Luckily for Peter, he was not first out of the door. The Mysterious Girl singer, who was partnered with professional dancer Janette Manrara, was sent home just before the quarter final. This meant Peter and Janette finished in seventh place.
Peter, 52, described his appearance at the time as “nothing but joy”, adding: “We’ve come so far. There’s no shame in leaving.”
But he has since written in his New! magazine column: “I may have reached that goal of achieving those 10s, but after that, I seemed to lose some of my zing. It was so tough because I really wanted to get Janette to the final.”
Strictly series 1: David Dickinson
There was no need for David Dickinson to have a spray tan when he took part in the first ever series of Strictly. The TV antiques dealer, famed for his naturally dark complexion, competed in the ballroom in 2004.
David, 83, was partnered with professional dancer Camilla Dallerup but they came seventh out of eight contestants. His appearance on the show had a very positive impact on his health, though.
He later wrote on david-dickinson.net: “I had not anticipated the level of commitment and fitness that would be required, but the upside was that it made me decide to finally stop smoking after forty odd years and I’m proud to say I’ve never gone back.”
![Deborah Meaden and Robin Windsor on Strictly Come Dancing tour [Credit: Rowen Lawrence / FameFlynet.uk.com]](https://cdn.tvguide.co.uk/uploads/2025/07/Untitled-6-1.jpg)
Deborah Meaden keeps dancing
Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden swapped her power suits for feathers and ballgowns in 2013. The tough-talking businesswoman was partnered with Robin Windsor and lasted five weeks in the competition.
Her time in the ballroom had a positive impact on her marriage. Deborah, 66, has since told BBC’s Desert Island Discs: “My husband did the most lovely thing during Strictly. He took up dancing lessons, because he could see how much I was loving it and he thought when it’s over for her, it’s over.
“Since I came out of Strictly we keep up with those. We try to dance a minimum of two hours a week, but we try to get in sometimes four hours a week.”
The couple even visited Buenos Aires where they were taught the Argentine Tango from Argentinians.
US star Michelle Williams
Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams bought some A-list glamour in 2010 – but it’s easy to forget she was one of Strictly Come Dancing’s celebrity contestants.
Beyoncé’s pal jetted to the UK to compete on the show with Brendan Cole and tore up the dance floor.
Michelle, 46, said at the time: “I definitely didn’t come all this way to go home in the first week, I’ll put it that way. I would love, love, love to win. If I focus and work hard and do what I’m supposed to do, I can possibly go very far in this competition.”
Michelle didn’t do as well as she’d hoped. She finished in ninth place out of 14 competitors.
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