Strictly’s Dianne Buswell gives birth to baby boy with Joe Sugg as they pay tribute to her father with name

Strictly Come Dancing has produced yet another ballroom baby – with stars Dianne Buswell and Joe Sugg announcing the birth of their first son.

The professional dancer, 36, was paired with vlogger Sugg, 34, on the BBC show’s 2018 series, with the duo making it to the final. They began dating shortly after the competition ended and announced in September that they were expecting their first child together.

Sharing the news of their son’s birth on Instagram, Buswell wrote on Wednesday (18 March) : “Never felt a love like it,” before revealing her tot’s name to be Bowden Mark Richard Sugg. Bowden’s middle name appears to be a tribute to Buswell’s father Mark, who was treated for cancer in 2023.

The couple shared their first photos of their son, who was born on Monday (16 March), alongside the caption. Their Strictly co-stars congratulated them in the comments, with professional dancer Vito Coppola writing: “Oh Finally,” with a heart emoji.

“I am so so happy, crying for joy and happiness,” he wrote. “Uncle Vito cannot wait to meet you, Love love love Bellissimo a zio.”

While It Takes Two presenter Janette Manrara said: “The best news!!! Congratulations my gorgeous girl. So happy for you and @joe_sugg. The most beautiful moments in life are to come.”

Professional cast members Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nancy Xu, Luba Mushtuk and Nadiya Bychkova also left heartfelt messages, while 2025 contestant Balvinder Sopal commented: “Huge congratulations, both. How absolutely beautiful.”

Their son joins the ever-growing list of babies to come from the show, which includes pro couple Manrara and Aljaž Škorjanec’s daughter Lyra, contestant Gemma Atkinson and professional Gorka Marquez’s kids Mia and Thiago, and winners Kevin Clifton and Stacey Dooley’s daughter Minnie, among others.

Bowden’s arrival comes just less than a month after the couple revealed that their family and friends had been fooled by fake AI pictures of their baby, who hadn’t been born at that point.

“I woke up this morning with loads of family and friends messaging me saying, ‘Oh, congrats on the news. I thought you’d tell us first before it was on the internet,” Sugg said in a video on Instagram.

“This is AI. Look – that’s not me. I don’t know who it is but that’s not me. That’s not my chin. It’s not my hair, unfortunately. That’s not Dianne, that’s not our baby – although I do hope he’s that cute. He’s not here. It’s AI. AI is scary.”

Their son is now finally here – bringing some happy news for the Strictly community amid rumours of a mass cast cull ahead of the new series.

While Buswell’s future on the show is yet to be confirmed, it was reported last week that four professional dancers would not be returning to the cast for the 2026 series: Gorka Márquez, Luba Mushtuk, Michelle Tsiakkas and Karen Hauer. Just days later, the Strictly live tour announced that Tsiakkas had pulled out from its line-up, with a statement reading: “We are naturally disappointed but respect her decision and wish her every success for the future.”

Speaking to The Independent, ex-star Kristina Rihanoff called for the show to be “rested” for a year amid the ongoing cast changes. “If I were a producer, I would give it a rest for a year, regroup and think about what we can do differently,” she said.

“There’s something to say about going back to basics and back to its roots – the roots of the show were pure ballroom and Latin dancing without the razzmatazz of 101 props and 3D projections.”