Strictly Come Dancing is to have its first all-male partnership in the show's history,
after TV chef John Whaite joined the line-up on Thursday.
Whaite will follow in the footsteps of boxer Nicola Adams, who was the first to have a same-sex partner last year.
The 2012 Bake Off winner described his partnership as "a great step forward in representation and inclusion".
Tom Fletcher, AJ Odudu and Robert Webb were announced as the first 2021 contestants on Wednesday.
Whaite told Matt Lucas on BBC Radio 2 on Thursday it was "an honour" to take part.
"When they asked me if I'd be interested, I just bit their hand off because I thought, to do that and represent the LGBTQ+ community is one thing, but also just to see two men or two women dancing together, it's not necessarily about sexuality, it's just about intimacy and respect," he said.
"And I think that's going to be such a great thing in our culture, where men are sort of conditioned not to open up and not to be emotional. I think it might help to combat that. So I'm excited on so many levels to be doing the first all-male partnership."
He added: "I don't think it's quite sunk in yet and I don't think it will until I find out who I'm actually dancing with."
'I am who I am'
Lucas, who is also gay, said: "As a kid I never would have dreamed that that sort of thing would be possible."
"Well that's the thing," replied Whaite. "I hope that kids watch this and see it and it becomes normal for them. They don't have to grow up in shame, they don't have to grow up worrying about who they are.
"I hope this kind of sets a bar for kids to think, I am who I am, and I'm proud of that."
Whaite, Fletcher, Odudu and Webb will be among the 15 stars on the dancefloor when the hit BBC One show returns this autumn. The other contestants will be named in the coming days.