Strictly cast receive the Barbie treatment as they recreate ‘I’m Just Ken’ video

Gorka Márquez stepped into Ryan Gosling’s shoes ahead of Movie Week

The cast of Strictly Come Dancing have been given the Barbie treatment as they recreated Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” video.

With the first couple leaving the competition last week, the BBC dance competition is now heading into Movie Week.

Ahead of Saturday (7 October) night’s special, which will see the remaining 14 couples dancing to songs inspired by the world of film, the male dancers from Strictly paid homage to the biggest film of the year.

In a video shared on the official Strictly Instagram, they recreated “I’m Just Ken”, the empowerment ballad sung by Gosling in Greta Gerwig’s box office smash Barbie.

Gorka Márquez donned the blue jeans, white faux-fur coat, bandana, black sunglasses and blonde wig worn by Gosling’s Ken. The other dancers dressed as the other Kens, wearing neon sportswear and cowboy hats while Márquez lip-synced along with the song.

The video delighted Strictly’s fans and stars alike, with Amy Dowden commenting: “This number is amazing! LOVE IT.”

Márquez’s celebrity couple Nikita Kanda commented: “Omg [cry-laughing emoji] @gorka_marquez looking exactly like Ken in the film.”

“Hahahahahahahaha yessss,” Karen Hauer added.

However, Márquez made a candid admission in the comments, writing: “When you don’t know the lyrics.”

“All of us pretending to know the lyric,” Vito Coppola echoed.

During Sunday (8 October) night’s results show, the Strictly pros will perform a Barbie-inspired dance. The film was released this summer, and stars Margot Robbie and Gosling as Barbie and Ken.

It debuted to critical acclaim – you can read The Independent’s five-star review here – and commercial success, going on to become the biggest film of 2023 so far. As of September, it has made $1.4bn in the global box office, making it the highest-grossing film by a female director, Warner Bros’s biggest film of all time, and the 14th highest-grossing film ever made.

Gosling (centre) performs ‘I’m Just Ken' (Warner Bros)

Strictly’s Movie Week will see the dancers performing numbers inspired by films such as Clueless, Batman and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin, who last week topped the leaderboard with a record-breaking 36 points, will be performing a Viennese Waltz to “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” from Grease.

Earlier this week, however, Williams responded to the “low-key trolling” he had received following the performance. The Bad Education star has faced criticism from some viewers over his past experience dancing.

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 7 October at 6.20pm on BBC One.