BBC Strictly Come Dancing to 'sign up The Traitors winner' for new series

Strictly Come Dancing chiefs are reportedly eyeing up The Traitors winner Jake Brown, amidst whispers that they've once again ditched a significant rule about including reality stars.

Whilst the BBC has yet to officially announce any participants for the upcoming series, speculation is rife about potential contestants.

Last year's series saw comedian Chris McCausland make history as the first blind contestant on the show, eventually clinching the glitterball trophy with professional dancer Dianne Buswell.

Dianne will be returning to the dance floor alongside fellow professionals Amy Dowden, Nikita Kuzmin, Katya Jones and Gorka Marquez.

Rumours suggest that these dancers could be paired with celebrities such as Stacey Solomon, Dani Dyer, Sir Mo Farah and Tom Parker Bowles, reports Edinburgh Live.

Now, Jake's name has been added to the list of potential contestants.

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell won Strictly Come Dancing 2024(Image: PA

An insider told The Sun: "Strictly bosses think Jake would be the perfect fit for this year's line-up.

"He's a good guy, as viewers saw by his journey on The Traitors, so he will be popular with the fanbase and they love to cross-promote with other huge BBC shows."

Jake gained fame as a participant on the third season of Claudia Winkleman's murder mystery series, where he emerged as a joint winner with Leanne Quigley, sharing the £94,600 prize money.

During his stint on the reality competition, he courageously shared his life-long battle with cerebral palsy.

The Traitors season three winners Leanne Quigley and Jake Brown with host Claudia Winkleman(Image: Instagram/ @leannequigleyx)

The source disclosed to The Sun: "Jake has also overcome a lot of adversity in his life with his cerebral palsy, so it will really be inspiring to see how he tackles the dance floor with a disability."

They continued: "As previous contestants like Rose Ayling Ellis, Tasha Ghouri, JJ Chalmers, Lauren Steadman and, of course, Chris McCausland have proved, being disabled can be a superpower on this show."

Reflecting on his experiences with cerebral palsy during an episode of The Traitors earlier this year, after a challenge which saw him face some difficulty gripping stone statues and carrying them across the castle grounds, Jake said: "I've got cerebral palsy, so it wasn't the weight, it was the grip. I basically just carried it with one hand."

He further explained: "So I was born with cerebral palsy, which affects my right arm and right leg.

Jake opened up about his cerebral palsy on The Traitors(Image: BBC)

"It's been a struggle growing up, knowing that I'm not the same as everybody else.

"I would always be constantly looking in the mirror trying to see what my arm looked like or what my leg looked like.

"But it's something I was born with and it's never going to go away."

In a conversation with Metro, Jake opened up about the positive reactions from supporters and his desire to increase awareness, having once felt "ashamed" of his condition.

He expressed: "I wanted to go on and spread awareness, but to do it in my own way. I didn't want it to be in people's faces, I wanted to be myself and just let people see the real Jake and then just naturally bring it into conversation as and when I thought was necessary.

The BBC have reportedly scrapped their 'reality star' rule(Image: BBC)

"So it's quite nice how authentic it came across, just in a mission with Alexander [Dragonetti], and the comments have been so lovely. I had some lovely messages, and it's from people with disabilities themselves, or they'll have a family member, maybe a son or daughter.

"They say that they're inspired by me, and they now have hope that their son or daughter will grow up and have a future. Because I remember being that six-year-old kid and not knowing what my future held, I didn't know if I could drive a car or get a job.

"I felt like all these doors are closing in on me, and I felt so ashamed, but actually, now I have so much confidence in my own skin, and now I'm proud of my disability, and it actually has opened up so many doors."

Devon Live has contacted the BBC for comment.