School of Politics and International Relations

Professor Tim Bale, Strictly Come Dancing and racial prejudice

14 December 2017

In a letter to The Guardian, Professor Tim Bale thinks more research is needed before deciding whether ethnicity affects a contestant’s chance of winning Strictly Come Dancing. He writes: “We’d have to have more contests – and therefore more contestants – to get truly convincing proof of that. We’d also have to control for all the other factors that might make a difference to a contestant’s success: for instance, athleticism, fame and, like this year’s winner, being a popular cast member in a long-running soap opera.”
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