NEW Strictly Come Dancing host Emma Willis has admitted she ‘does not know’ some of the celebs signed up to this year’s show – amid casting fears from fans.
The programme is due back in just days with the celebrities having already discovered their partners in a pre-recorded launch show.
But this year’s line-up came under fire from fans who felt it was much more lacklustre than previous years.
Some of the stars included Channel 5 host Graeme Hall, actress Bethany Antonia, Kim Kardashian‘s hairdresser Chris Appleton, Love Island winner Cach Mercer and football content creator John Nellis.
Now, Emma has admitted she didn’t even know some of them – despite it once attracting the biggest names on TV and in the entertainment industry.
Emma told The Sunday Times Style magazine: “There are a couple I haven’t heard of.”
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The publication reports that Emma then covered her face before continuing: “…but then I looked and was like, oh, a football guy, that isn’t really my bag.”
Emma then remarked: “It’s good we’re bringing people in. We need to take into consideration there are so many different mediums now and you’ve got to appeal to multi-generations.
“If it was all people maybe our generation knew, then kids would be like, ‘I don’t know who they are’.”
Commenting on podcaster and YouTube star George Clarke who appeared on the show last year, Emma said: “I didn’t know who he was, but my God he was phenomenal. It’s the same every year.”
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Her comments come after Emma confirmed she was lined-up to take part as a contestant on the show four years ago.
She revealed she and husband, Busted member Matt Willis, both began advanced talks for the show and even went to the programme’s ‘test day’ which is used as an audition by BBC bosses before picking the final line-up.
Emma admitted the plan was for her and Matt to compete against one another but conceded that they were unable to both sign up due to diary conflicts which meant they would both not be able to commit to the full stint.