Strictly Come Dancing professional Dianne Buswell has become a firm favourite with viewers since joining the BBC One show in 2017
Dianne Buswell’s most recent Strictly Come Dancing partner, Chris McCausland, joked that she was “over the moon” to be paired with him as it ensured an early exit – yet the duo ended up taking home the Glitterball Trophy. Their performances have been a hit with viewers throughout this series.
Since joining the BBC One dance competition in 2017, the Australian-born professional has become a fan favourite. Known for her bubbly personality, distinctive red hair and impressive choreography, she’s come close to winning twice.
During her time on the show, Dianne also found love with one of her celebrity partners, and their relationship is still going strong.
Early life in Australia and secret profession
Born on 6 May 1989, Dianne hails from Bunbury in Western Australia. She began dancing at the age of five after watching her siblings in the dance studio, according to the Manchester Evening News, reports Wales Online.
She went on to compete in contests representing Western Australia in National and International Ballroom and Latin competitions, becoming a four-time Amateur Australian Open finalist. In 2008 and 2010, she and her brother Andrew won the Western Australian Open Adult New Vogue championship.
At 18, she earned her place on Australia’s So You Think You Can Dance, making it into the top 20 female dancers nationwide from thousands of applicants. This experience opened doors to the internationally acclaimed stage show Burn the Floor.
After completing her global tour with the production, she headed back to Australia to become a professional on Dancing with the Stars. It wasn’t long before Strictly Come Dancing came calling.
Yet she carved out another career alongside her dancing that many fans don’t know about. Before turning professional, Dianne worked as a hairdresser back home in Australia.
She’s said: “I had two dreams, dancing and becoming a hairdresser – I’m thrilled to have achieved both.”
When she appeared on Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel on BBC One in 2022, she picked hair as her specialist topic. Asked why she chose this subject, she said: “I was a hairdresser. I had my own salon and then I went to dancing.”
Strictly Come Dancing and week four curse
Dianne’s first Strictly celebrity partner Reverend Richard Coles struggled to win over the judges, exiting the 2017 series in week three. While she made it to the grand finale in 2018 with Joe Sugg, her later partnerships weren’t as successful, with radio host Dev Griffin departing in week four of 2019.
Dianne faced similar challenges when paired with pop star Max George in 2020, and in 2021 was matched with comedian Robert Webb, who had to pull out during week four for health reasons.
In 2022, she danced with radio presenter Tyler West, but their run came to an end in Blackpool during week nine.
Last year, she reached the final with EastEnders star Bobby Brazier, though they missed out on the Glitterball Trophy to Coronation Street’s Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola.
Dianne later shared her appreciation for being matched with Bobby, revealing performing with him had been a “win” for her.
She posted on Instagram: “I used to be so obsessed with winning a sparkly trophy constantly thinking about that moment and what it would feel like. But what I have realised [is] dancing with this wonderful human is that the win and the sparkle is everywhere if you want it to be.”
Battle with eating disorder
Dianne has previously opened up about her battle with an eating disorder that left her “terrified” to dance.
During an appearance on This Morning, she disclosed her fixation with food and excessive exercise. She admitted: “You wake up in the morning, and the first thing you think of is, what am I going to eat? How many calories are going to be in that? How much do I need to exercise to burn off those calories?”so grateful”It literally is like a planned thing in your mind that doesn’t go away. And that’s when you start to go, “Oh, this is a problem because I’m not thinking of anything else.”
She also opened up about the pressure to maintain her weight when she became a dancer and how “weekly weigh-ins” at her dance company completely ‘terrified’ her as a young child.
She added: “I think it comes from when I was quite a young girl. And obviously growing up in the dance world, you’re taught to look a certain way and you see all these other beautiful girls dancing.
“You kind of want to look like that and want to be winning like they are. And they look a certain way so I feel like I should look that way. So I think it was it was something from a really young age.”
She eventually overcame her struggles and has documented her journey in the book Eating Disorders Don’t Discriminate, hoping to support others experiencing similar challenges.
Finding love with Joe Sugg
Dianne and YouTuber Joe Sugg announced their relationship after being paired together in the 2018 series of Strictly, where they reached the final. She told the Express that romance was the last thing on her mind when joining the programme. She explained: “I feel like all the stars aligned with Joe because we’re just literally such similar people in so many ways.
“We’re very different in ways too, but just our personalities just click so, so well. “I always think it’s so weird how we met and I feel like everything was just aligned in the right place, right time for both of us.It was pretty special.
She said they continue to dance together, though she joked his recollection of the routines is somewhat foggy.
She said: “When we’re at home and a nice song comes on the radio or something, I definitely go like, ‘Oh do you remember this Joe – that song that we danced to on the show? And Joe will be like, ‘I can’t remember any of that now,’ but then I’ll re enact the whole dance and he’ll be like, ‘How do you do that? So yeah, we still do have a joke around.”
Dianne moved into Joe’s flat in 2019, with the content creator giving her with a card which read, ‘So I have officially invited you to live in my humble abode with me. Do you want to move in with me? Yes or no. Circle your choice. All my love, Joseph. ‘”.
She accepted, informing followers on Instagram: “I said yes…. of course. Then I whispered to him do you realise how messy I can be!”
The pair subsequently moved away from London and now live in a countryside property in Sussex.
Father’s cancer battle
Dianne has admitted her Australian roots can feel a world away now that she’s made a home in the UK with Joe, but she’s smitten with her life here. Speaking to the Express, she said: “One weird thing, I suppose, is that I just go, ‘Wow, I’m actually so far away from where I was born’. Then I think, ‘Oh my god, like, of all the places I now am living! The UK is a full 24 hour plane ride away from my hometown. And obviously my family are all so far away from me.
“But I must say, I do love the UK and I do love all the people here and I love my job here so, yeah, I really enjoy the UK.”
After wrapping up Strictly’s 2023 series, Dianne flew back to Australia to spend time with her family, especially her father Mark, who was in the midst of a six-month chemotherapy course for an undisclosed cancer diagnosis.
Dianne hailed him as her “hero”, praising his strength and optimism throughout his treatment. She shared a montage on Instagram of him in hospital, including a clip of the moment he rang the bell to signify the end of his therapy.
She posted: “To my daddy you did it 6 months later and 12 rounds done.I am so so PROUD of you it’s been a tough road but you have always done it with a smile and a thumbs up. I know you were scared and I know it was not easy but you have done it.”
During an earlier stage of Mark’s cancer battle, she discussed the challenge of being thousands of miles from home, posting: “I wish so much I could be there right now and just cuddle you. You’re my hero and you have made me realise we all have so much more strength then we think.”
During Strictly’s 2024 launch programme, Dianne announced that her parents would be travelling from Australia to support her on the show in November.
Why signature red hair is her ‘comfort blanket’
Dianne is recognised for her vibrant red locks and reveals she was captivated by hair styling during her childhood.
She explained she was “fascinated with colour” and would cut, style and dye her Barbie dolls’ hair, telling the Press Association: “I actually remember for Easter most years, my mum would ask which Easter egg I wanted and I just really wanted hair colour, so mum would buy me a box hair colour instead of an Easter egg.”
Her path to the striking red shade she’s now famous for wasn’t immediate. She said: “I always liked an undertone of red but when I went bright red for a dance show, something clicked. I felt different – more fiery, more passionate. It changed the way I danced.”
She maintains her striking colour has enabled her to distinguish herself in her dancing career, especially on Strictly: “It’s given me that extra pizzazz and confidence. People recognise me as ‘the red-haired girl’, and it’s become a part of my identity. aybe one day I’ll go back to a more natural shade,” she concedes, “but right now, it’s hard to part with the red. It’s more than just a colour – it’s my comfort blanket.”
She also revealed: “I’ve had red hair for about ten years now. I’m a hairdresser by trade, though I haven’t done it in a salon for many, many years.” But when I was hairdressing, I literally had every single colour you could imagine.
“I had blonde, I had black, I had brown, I had black with red stripes, I had black with blonde streaks – it was just like that hairdresser thing where you’re just constantly changing the colour of your hair. And then, when I started dancing on stage, I went from jet black to honey blonde.
“And then I got bored – so I put a red dye over it one day and was like, ‘I kind of like this’, and it stuck. “”Everyone was like, ‘Oh my god – red really suits you and works with your eyes’.
“Then since I went on Strictly Come Dancing, I’ve been known as the girl with red hair.”
