Strictly Come Dancing will reportedly feature a same-sex couple for the first time in the upcoming new series.

The BBC ballroom contest usually sees a male or female celebrity paired up with a professional partner of the opposite gender but in recent years has been under increasing pressure to feature more diverse pairings.

Earlier this year ITV's Dancing On Ice featured a male duo for the first time and, according to The Sun, Strictly will now follow suit.

Professional dancer Johannes Radebe is the favourite to be given a male celeb partner in the new run, having previously danced with fellow pro Graziano Di Prima during a routine on the last series.

"The plan to introduce a same-sex couple was made after ITV took the plunge," a source told the newspaper. "Many of Strictly's stars have called on producers to cast a same-sex couple for the past few years and it's been decided this will be the year.

"Johannes made history with Graziano in the last series by becoming the first same-sex dancers to perform and he's made no secret of how keen he'd be to take on the role. None of the dancers have been ruled out of the running but Johannes has been the most vocal about stepping forward and making history again on the series.

"There are several other dancers who have also said they are keen. Strictly is facing so many challenges this series because of coronavirus but behind-the-scenes they're rising to the challenge and want this year's show to be better than ever."

The BBC are said to be determined to make sure the show goes ahead as planned this year despite the ongoing threat from COVID-19 and have reportedly already secured a host of top names to take part.