After a summer of scandal, the Controller of BBC One hailed the return of one untainted favourite. Sequins will fly when the first married couple take to the floor on Strictly Come Dancing.

Gabby Logan, the BBC Sport presenter, Times columnist and former international gymnast, will attempt to rumba her way past husband Kenny, a former Scotland rugby union international. The switch from sports field to dancefloor has previously proved a winner in the ballroom competition, now a top-rated programme in 25 countries. Last year 12 million viewers watched England cricketer Mark Ramprakash sashay to victory. Darren Gough, his former international colleague, triumphed in 2005.

The Logans will compete against John Barnes, the former England footballer, who admitted he needed to lose a few pounds. Karen Hardy, last year’s winning professional dancer, returns to partner actor Brian Capron, best known for his role as serial killer Richard Hillman in Coronation Street.

The BBC has suspended all competition phone-ins following a series of scandals but Strictly, which raised £4.7 million for Children In Need from viewer votes, is excused.

The BBC said shows which rely on voting alone have been given a clean bill of health.

Peter Fincham, BBC One Controller, currently under investigation over releasing misleading footage of the Queen, welcomed the fifth season of the dance show.

“It has become the centrepiece of BBC One’s Saturday night autumn schedule,” he said. “Strictly is pure entertainment and pure escapism. It’s a uniquely BBC Show.”

Assembling at the Waldorf Hotel, the competitors, who include Rod Stewart’s latest wife Penny Lancaster and a number of soap actors hoping for a career boost, delivered self-deprecatory remarks about their chances of winning.

Mr Fincham said: “Don’t believe a word of it. This is a competition and in a few weeks from now it will be murder on the dancefloor.”

Mrs Logan was told not to take part in the BBC show when she was an ITV presenter. She was asked to take part in ITV’s Dancing on Ice instead.

She said: “I wanted to dance more than I wanted to skate. It wasn’t the reason I left ITV but it was a very attractive reason to come to the BBC.”

Tensions are already running high in the Logan household. Mrs Logan said: “We’re trying not to talk about it at all because the first time we did there was a small heated debate. Kenny was trying to teach me a waltz after two lessons, which I thought was a bit premature on his part.”

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