Strictly Come Dancing should allow same-sex dance partners, says Richard Coles

The former member of the 1980s band The Communards, argued it made "no sense" that anyone would oppose the move on the hit BBC show.

Coles also revealed he had had "a discussion" with the programmes bosses about allowing same-sex couples to take part.

The vicar, who is in a same-sex marriage, is among the 15 contestants taking part in this year’s edition of Strictly Come Dancing, which started on Saturday.

Coles has been paired with Dianne Buswell on the show.

He made his comments came after fellow contestant Susan Calman, who is a lesbian, had been criticised on social media for not having a female professional partner.

Coles told Digital Spy: "We’ve had a discussion about it, actually, and I don’t know. It makes absolutely no sense that anybody resists the idea, in principle.

"It’s just a question of doing it. I think this year would be a good year to do it actually, with the 50th anniversary of sexual offences act (which decriminalised sex between two men aged more than 21)."

The Sunday Telegraph quoted the BBC saying they currently had no plans for same-sex couples to take part in the contest.

Comedian Calman, said she considered dancing with a woman, but later changed her mind.

She said: "I did think about dancing with a woman, but from the very first moment when I was asked about the show I said I wanted to dance with a man."

Reacting to comments on social media, she said: "People can criticise me all they want, but I’ve worked tirelessly for LGBT equality my whole life and right now I would like to dance and bring entertainment to people by dancing on a Saturday night.

"Dancing’s not necessarily about sex; it’s acting. When I do a sexy tango with my partner I’ll be acting and, fundamentally, I’ve watched the show for years and I want to learn how to dance."