Celebrity, work and the reality-talent show: Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars

Abstract

The highly popular international format Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars is an example of those reality-television formats that put celebrities into direct competition with one another. The article considers why such shows, and indeed competitive reality-television shows generally, are popular with broadcasters in the post-broadcast era. The ability to cast celebrities as in-house promotions for other network shows is identified as one element of this. Examination of series of Strictly Come Dancing and the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars from 2010 to 2012 also reveals that the format provides a valuable site for the valorisation of work, although as is usual for celebrity discourse, the work of actually being a celebrity, including cross-promotion, is not part of this. A distinctive aspect of this particular format is a related sub-theme of incompetence, and this article explores the utility of this in terms of generating interest in this popular format. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.