Highland Hospice and Inverness Ice Centre to benefit as pairing night for Strictly Inverness 2025 takes place
The 14th edition of an annual charity dance contest will have same-sex dance couples once again.
Three of the 16 partnerships for Strictly Inverness 2025 will be female-only duos.
It comes after three of the pairings for Strictly Inverness 2024 were also female-only - and this year for the first time there is a female-only duo among the mentors with Angela Urquhart and Emma Macdonald teaming up. Even though they weren’t among the May competition’s dance couples, they were in Team Friday together.
• WATCH: Strictly Come Dancing's Amy Dowden confirmed as guest judge for Strictly Inverness 2025
It reflected the popularity of the event among female applicants, as most of the 32 dancers were put into pairs at an event in Loch Ness Country House Hotel last night.
While most of the budding dancers are live in Inverness, there are also people involved from Drumnadrochit, Alness, Contin, Forres and Elgin.
The annual event generates cash for the Highland Hospice and Inverness Ice Centre, which organise and host the event.
The 2024 version of the extravaganza raised more than £300,000 for the charities.
• Community callout: You can sign up for our free newsletters sent directly to your inbox each day at 6.30am. We also have our new Nairnshire newsletters which are also free and arrive every Tuesday and Friday at 8am. Sign-up here.
Many participants met each other for the first time last night, with an atmosphere of excitement and nerves.
They were shown some moves by dance tutors involved in the competition in May 2025.
The group will be split into two with each competing in eight-couple semi-finals, with the top four in each reaching the final on May 17, with Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden set to join the judging panel.
Starting next month, each couple will learn two dances, plus a group dance.
They will perform in front of audiences of around 600 people at the ice centre.
Last May’s second-placed couple Reece Ross and Rachel Wood, who were in Team Thursday, also return as mentors.
Hospice fundraiser Carrie Macdonald said: "We are so excited for Strictly Inverness 2025! There was a great buzz in the room at our pairing night and everyone is ready and raring to go. This event just goes from strength to strength and we can't wait to see our cast of 2025 in action. It's going to be a big one!"
Among the dancers will be The Inverness Courier's business reporter Rachel Smart and multimedia manager Chris Dixon.
As a reader, we know the value you place on trusted local journalism. At The Inverness Courier we are committed to delivering the very best coverage from communities right across our area, and we can only do this with the support of our readers. By becoming a subscriber you not only support us in this mission, you also unlock a whole host of benefits, including unlimited access to our website and digital editions of all our weekly newspapers. You can find out more about subscriptions here.
Use the promo code ANDYDIXON to get a year of unlimited digital access for just £10 - we really appreciate your support. Thank you.
