Emma Thompson shared her real thoughts on 'the Strictly curse' and husband Greg Wise

Several celebrity marriages have broken up after starring on Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly Come Dancing is back on our screens, which means A) it's definitely autumn, and B) we can fully expect the rumour mill to start churning about the dynamics between the celebrity lineup and their professional dance partners. To be fair, the 'Strictly curse' is a phenomenon that exists for a reason; in the show's 17-season history, there have been numerous marriages that have broken up, with relationships between celebrities and professional dancers announced in the aftermath.

Case in point: Rachel Riley announced she was splitting from husband Jamie Gilbert during her time on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013, and revealed she was dating her dance partner Pasha Kovalev less than a year later. The pair have gone on to welcome a daughter, with a second child on the way. Ben Cohen, who starred in the same series as Rachel Riley, similarly separated from wife Abby before announcing his relationship with professional dancer Kristina Rhianoff. Ben and Kristina have also had a child together. Seann Walsh and Katya Jones, Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton, the list goes on.

So how does actress Emma Thompson, whose husband Greg Wise is competing in this year's series of Strictly, feel about him taking part? Is she horrified? Is she nervous? Did she try to stop him?

Well... no. None of those things. Actually, she's totally and utterly cool with it. In fact, she was even making jokes about the idea of Greg getting a little too familiar with dance partner Karen Hauer.

In an interview with The Sun, when Emma was asked about the infamous curse, she replied: "I am worried about the Strictly curse, very much so. I have put a packet of Durex into Greg’s good luck card. Just two."

Excellent response.

Continuing on the theme of the potential for an illicit affair, the Cruella actress added: "They haven’t got time for a lot of shagging, I hope, they’ll be so exhausted."

And with 12-hour days of dance practice on the cards, she's probably not wrong.

Last weekend, Strictly Come Dancing 2021 kicked off with presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announcing the 15 brand new dance partners, and the first live show starts this Saturday, 25 September. So we'll just have to make sure we tune in to every episode to monitor the chemistry between celebrities and professionals, won't we?