Strictly Come Dancing (series 7) - Couples

Couples

The celebrity participants for the seventh series were, as in previous years, the subject of extensive rumour-mongering throughout the summer of 2009. British media erroneously claimed appearances by Sharon Osbourne, former X Factor judge; talk-show hosts Richard and Judy; and Amy Winehouse. The rumours surrounding Osbourne in particular caused an extensive wild-goose chase, prompting several major newspapers to run conflicting stories ranging from "already signed deal", to "ended discussions after one speculative phone call", before finally walking out in what was alleged to be a dispute over pay. Osbourne herself refuted this allegation, saying instead that she "just couldn't be arsed to do it... I seriously considered it for a while but basically I'm a lazy old cow. Several newspapers said I wasn't doing it because they weren't paying me enough money. But that's rubbish..." The Daily Mirror was later forced to print a correction withdrawing the story, which it had first broken in July 2009.

The Daily Mail claimed that the final line-up, of which it said "underwhelming would be an understatement", resulted from the BBC's failure to secure bigger celebrities such as Osbourne, Sarah, Duchess of York, Linford Christie, and Cliff Richard, all of whom it claimed were approached by the programme. The BBC pointed out that " talk to a huge amount of people at the start of the process... It's a very lengthy selection procedure..." Responding specifically to Osbourne's withdrawal, the spokesmen said "We have no idea where this news story has come from. We have never signed Osbourne", also noting that, since Osbourne had never formally signed for the show, she was in no position to "quit" anything.

Retired jockey Richard Dunwoody, and former boxing world-champion Joe Calzaghe, were the first participants to be correctly identified by the British press. The sporting pair, who were quickly given odds to win the competition of 25–1 and 5–1 (Calzaghe was the favourite to win the competition in August 2009), were swiftly joined by former England cricketer Phil Tufnell, former tennis world champion Martina Hingis, and Olympic athlete Jade Johnson, bringing the total number of sporting celebrities to five, an increase on previous years. They were swiftly joined by actress and former EastEnders cast member Natalie Cassidy, The Bill star Ali Bastian, and Zöe Lucker, best known from Footballers' Wives. A number of sources interpreted the signing of Lynda Bellingham, 61, and Jo Wood, 53, as an attempt by the BBC to defuse the ageism row surrounding the departure of Phillips and Hardy. The Daily Mirror quoted a BBC source saying "Lynda is a great signing and hopefully her appearance helps to illustrate that there is no age bias".

The BBC publicised the official line-up on 25 August 2009, adding actors Craig Kelly, Ricky Groves, Laila Rouass and Ricky Whittle to the media's speculations. Current BBC television personalities Rav Wilding and Chris Hollins completed the line-up. The Daily Mail claimed that those with existing BBC contracts were paid less than the other celebrities, who were receiving £25,000 each to appear on the show; claiming further that "at least one was offered significantly more".