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Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin cried ‘tears of joy’ when reunited with Dani Dyer

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Cite

O'Grady, S. (2026, September 20). Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin cried ‘tears of joy’ when reunited with Dani Dyer. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/danny-dyer-sarah-storey-lacey-turner-shaun-wrightphillips-bbc-one-b1297718.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-20 · by Sean O'Grady

Quick Summary

Professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin expressed tears of joy upon being reunited with his partner Dani Dyer on the 2026 series of Strictly Come Dancing. The pair were previously paired last year but had to part ways when Dyer injured her ankle. Both dancers are enthusiastic about their reunion, with Dyer noting she is excited to perform the cha-cha-cha and recalling her initial disbelief at the announcement. This season includes a roster of other celebrity contestants such as actress Melanie Walters and singer Delta Goodrem.
Written by AI on 2026-09-21, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The articles discuss the 24th season launch of the British television dancing competition "Strictly Come Dancing." Here are key points from these articles:

This marks a significant change for Strictly as it introduces new hosts while maintaining its iconic format of pairing celebrities with professional dancers in ballroom dancing competitions.

Written for “Strictly 2026 Launch Show” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 9 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Strictly 2026 Launch Show
Entertainment · 10 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 50 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 65/100
“While both articles cover Dani Dyer's reunion with Nikita Kuzmin on Strictly Come Dancing, Article A focuses on viewership statistics for the launch show, while Article B is specifically about Nikita Kuzmin's emotional reaction to being paired with Dani Dyer.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
10
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
2
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 7906 article(s) · 65 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 65 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Sean O'Grady
94 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 He will be so much missed.”
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🔮 “So that was the most difficult thing, and not being able to tell them exactly when I would be going because I didn’t know – I could be back in 48 hours, I could be gone in three weeks, which turned out I was.”
🔮 Maestro Italian tenor Bocelli will make an appearance to celebrate 30 years since he first became an international star.
🔮 “I want to say thank-you all for watching and I will be here for another eight weeks or so, and I will say a proper goodbye when I go just before Christmas.” She then joined the BBC political unit at Westminster, working on national TV programmes.
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🔮 The Lilacs, Logicaltramp, Rick Parfitt Jnr Band, Rudimental and T’Pau will also perform.
Also by Sean O'Grady
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 94 articles by Sean O'Grady →

Topics

Australian England Paralympian

Subjects

Dyer PERSON · 4× Kuzmin PERSON · 3× Australian NORP · 1× Dani Dyer PERSON · 1× Delta Goodrem PERSON · 1× England GPE · 1× Lacey Turner PERSON · 1× Melanie Walters PERSON · 1× Nikita Kuzmin PERSON · 1× Shaun Wright-Phillips PERSON · 1×

Narrative

They are joined by actress Lacey Turner, celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton, Love Island winner Cach Mercer, presenter Will Best, Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, actresses Jaime Winstone and Bethany Antonia, dog trainer and presenter Graeme “The Dogfather” Hall, Emmerdale’s Lawrence Robb, Olympian Tabby Stoecker and sports content creator John Nellis.
framing: assertive · carried by 2 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-21
🔮 Professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin has revealed he cried “tears of joy” when he was reunited with Dani Dyer on Strictly Come Dancing and would have been “jealous” to see her with someone else.
2026-09-21 · Evening Standard
Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin cried ‘tears of joy’ when reunited with Dani Dyer · assertive framing
2026-09-21 · Evening Standard
Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin cried ‘tears of joy’ when reunited with Dani Dyer · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 0 hedged)

Professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin has revealed he cried “tears of joy” when he was reunited with Dani Dyer on Strictly Come Dancing and would have been “jealous” to see her with someone else. asserted
he → reveal → someone
The pair have been coupled up again on the 2026 series after Dyer was forced to drop out of last year’s show when she fractured her ankle during rehearsals. asserted
she → couple → rehearsals
After learning they would be partners again, Kuzmin said: “When they announced both of us being together, my right eye was having tears of joy, I don’t know why not the left one. asserted
I → learn → joy
I was feeling so much joy.” asserted
I → feel → joy
He added: “Not gonna lie, I was worried if she went to somebody else, I was going to get jealous because she’s my partner and if I see her with someone else, I’ll be like, ‘oh my goodness’.” asserted
I → add → someone
Dyer admitted she was “devastated” when she had to leave the competition last year but was “so excited” to be paired with Kuzmin again. asserted
she → admit → Kuzmin
Kuzmin added: “She kept messing with my head, ‘no, they definitely won’t put us together’.” asserted
they → add → us
Dyer added: “I just didn’t think they would! asserted
they → add → ?
But when they said it, I was like, ‘oh my God’.” asserted
I → say → it
Asked about her dancing skills, Dyer said: “I loved it when I was little. asserted
I → ask → it
I’m alright. asserted
I → ’m → ?
“I’m good when I’m out with my friends and you’ve had a few drinks, you can’t get me off the stage.” asserted
you → ’m → stage
The former Love Island winner said the cha-cha-cha is the dance she is most excited to perform. asserted
she → say → ?
The other celebrities taking part this year are actress Melanie Walters, former England footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips and Australian singer Delta Goodrem. asserted
celebrities → take → part
They are joined by actress Lacey Turner, celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton, Love Island winner Cach Mercer, presenter Will Best, Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, actresses Jaime Winstone and Bethany Antonia, dog trainer and presenter Graeme “The Dogfather” Hall, Emmerdale’s Lawrence Robb, Olympian Tabby Stoecker and sports content creator John Nellis. asserted
They → join → Turner
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