The Strictly stars who will never quit the show (unless they’re asked to leave)

Johannes Radebe is the second Strictly star this week to say he would never quit the BBC show unless he was asked to leave.

Every year Strictly bosses look at the line-up and choose which stars of the show they are going to be inviting back. This annual review also looks at whether the professional dancers on the show will get a celebrity partner or whether they will just perform on the show as part of group dances.

Strictly pro Radebe — who is partnered with Gladiators star Montell Douglas this year — has landed some exciting opportunities outside of the show, including starring in stage production Kinky Boots and a movie about his life based on his memoir. This prompted reports he could be leaving the show that made him famous.

Quick to reassure viewers, the choreographer denied speculation he was leaving and he said he would do the BBC show for as long as the TV bosses want him. Radebe insisted “nothing will take me away” from Strictly in a powerful post on social media.

He wrote on Instagram: “I’m not going nowhere! The story isn’t true – I love @bbcstrictly and I want to do this beautiful show for as long as they want me — and the body will allow. I have Kinky Boots and other work in the pipeline yes but nothing will take me away. Love you all, Jo Jo.”

So who are the stars that want to stay on Strictly for as long as they can?

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Shirley Ballas

Earlier this week it was head judge Shirley Ballas who said she has no plans of leaving Strictly Come Dancing. She told The Daily Star: “I’ve been on the show for eight years and I’ll stay on it until I pop my clogs.”

Other than death, the only way Ballas wouldn’t return is if bosses don’t invite her back. She added: “Every year, when I’m asked to come back, I have a little think and then I say, ‘Yes, thank you’. The only other reason I’d go is if they don’t want me anymore.”

The head judge loves the show because it’s a great “Every year, the show is something new and I get to meet new people. It’s family show that everybody in the country really enjoys. It sends positive messages and that’s what I love about it.”

Bullying had left her on the verge of quitting dancing until the job at Strictly come along. She told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in 2023: “Fortunately something aligned and I got the job on Strictly. So thank you very much to all the bullies in my industry and you know who you are, and everybody in my industry knows who they are – thank you, because you gave me a platform and a job that I sincerely love and adore.”

Karen Hauer

Karen Hauer is the longest-serving professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing — having first burst onto our screens in 2012 — and she plans to be there until she’s told to leave. In fact she’s going to continue dancing for as long as she can.

She told Digital Spy this year: “I’m literally there till, you know, until they kick me out… They’ll have to peel me off the dance floor.”

“I think that, why not continue for as long as you can, for as long as your body can allow you to. Just because you’re in your 40s. I mean, I’m 42. But it’s one of the things that I’m like, I’m not going to stop just because of my age.”

Craig Revel Horwood

Age also isn’t a problem for fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood who wants to be on the dancing show until he’s in his 80s.

Now aged 59, it’s been 20 years since he first landed the judging job on Strictly at 39. Horwood was on the original judging panel alongside late Len Goodman, axed Arlene Phillips and Bruno Tonioli. Now he sits alongside Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse.

“I have no intention of quitting because it’s a fantastic Saturday job that I intend to do into my 80s, as long as I’m still compos mentis, darling!” Revel Horwood told The Mirror.

The only way Horwood could see himself not being on the show is if he is cancelled first. He added playfully: “And if I haven’t been cancelled before then! But what would I do if I weren’t doing it? Remain a director – I love directing musicals, I would love to direct TV and film. I have choreographed movies like Paddington 2, for instance, which I really loved.I’m not just going to retire and just weed the garden.”

Anton Du Beke

Like Horwood, Anton Du Beke has been on Strictly since its origin. However, he first started out on the BBC talent show as a professional dancer. Only in recent years has Du Beke gone from being a pro dancer to becoming a judge on the show.

There had been reports Du Beke had plans to leave in 2018 and the star was quick to rubbish these claims on social media. He wrote at the time: “My loves, some people are reporting I’m quitting the show. Absolute rubbish! I’m NEVER quitting. Whether they want me or not, I’m never going! Love you all.”