Strictly Come Dancing: Crochet dolls meet real life inspirations

25 May 2023

Neve Gordon-FarleighBBC News in Norfolk

News image — Ellen Siegert pictured with Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Dianne Buswell and mini Dianne

Ellen Siegert Ellen Siegert and Dianne Buswell — Ellen Siegert pictured with Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Dianne Buswell and mini Dianne

An 18-year-old who crocheted the cast of Strictly Come Dancing has given her woolly doll doppelgangers to their real life inspirations.

Ellen Siegert, from Hopton in Norfolk, began the craft when she was 14 to help her cope with chronic fatigue syndrome.

She said some of the Strictly cast recognised her work from Instagram and said it was "really lovely" to know they were appreciated.

Her 400 character creations to date also include musicians and TV stars.

After making animals to start with, she said the character dolls "kind of happened by accident".

Growing up watching Strictly, she wanted to give herself a challenge, she said.

Ellen Siegert/BBC/Guy Levy Ellen Siegert give dancer Nikita Kuzmin his crochet doll — Dancer Nikita Kuzmin was gifted his mini me by Ellen at an event in London

She said: "I think it was 36 dolls in three months and I finished the last one with 24 hours to go until the [2022] final."

Ellen's said her favourite part of crafting the 4in (10cm) Strictly dolls was making the vibrant and colourful costumes the dancers wear in the BBC hit show.

Ellie Siegert Crochet doll tributes to the Strictly cast of 2022 — Crafting the costumes and adding the sequins were Ellen's favourite part of the process, she said

"It gave me a challenge, I had to figure out ways of effectively making beards on dolls that were shorter, using eye shadow instead of the hair as they have stubble rather than a beard," she said.

Ellen Siegert Ellen Siegert and Strictly dancer Lauren — Ellen Siegert started crocheting at the age of 14 as an activity she could do despite having chronic fatigue syndrome

Ellen said living with chronic fatigue syndrome, where the most common symptom is extreme tiredness, is tough.

"It's really hard to do anything [on a bad day], I'm normally just on the sofa in my pyjamas struggling but you take the good days."

Her dolls have reached a global audience after being posted to her thousands of followers on Instagram and most recently include Finland's Eurovision entry Käärijä, but it was the Strictly tributes that drew in a bigger UK audience, she said.

Getty Images Rapper Kaarija, who represented Finland in Eurovision 2023, performing in the grand final — Bare-chested rapper Kaarija, who represented Finland in Eurovision 2023, also has a crochet doppelganger

Neve Gordon-Farleigh/BBC Ellen Siegert holding her crochet dolls — Ellen has also given comedian Michael McIntyre and Suffolk-born musician Ed Sheeran their dolls

After posting the dolls on her social media channels, members of the Strictly cast commented they "were all really lovely" and said they "remembered them from Instagram" when Ellen and the dancers finally met.

She said: "It was really, really special to have that and to know that they were appreciated."