The announcement that influencer and former “Princess Charming” Vanessa Borck (29) would take the stage on Let’s Dance with a female dance partner has sparked a wave of online backlash. The lesbian mother of a daughter went public with the hurt it caused her and said she feels “completely wounded” by the hate, while trying not to let the cruel messages affect her too deeply.
On Valentine’s Day, Borck revealed that in the show (starting February 27 at 8:15 p.m., RTL and RTL+) she would be dancing with a woman. TheColu.mn reported on the reveal. She isn’t the first to pair up with a female partner—back in 2019, singer Kerstin Ott danced beside pro Regina Luca—yet even seven years later, many still treat the idea as something abnormal. The influencer shared a comment on her Instagram Story Monday night in which someone wrote, “It just looks weird… And I think that’s why she won’t go far.” The sentiment was that “a man belongs beside [her] in a show like this.”
“Nessi” also received a flurry of queerphobic messages, she said. She is not accustomed to sexuality being discussed so openly in the context of a mainstream competition like Let’s Dance. She has been in the public eye about her sexuality for years, and in 2025 she pursued her dream woman as “Princess Charming.” She rose to prominence with her former partner Ina through the YouTube channel “Couple On Tour.”
She wants to focus now on the positive comments
In truth, she has long considered herself “very strong” when it comes to criticism of her love life. But now the barrage of hate messages feels “very hurtful” in a way that even she finds exhausting. She is proud of who she is and of loving women. She hopes to send a message by competing in a women-dance pairing on Let’s Dance and to boost visibility, and she sees it as “great” that she is paired with a female dance pro. If she eventually leaves the show, she hopes it will be due to her dancing—not because she is performing with a woman.
Vanessa Borck intends to tackle this with a positive mindset. “I’m not going to let it bring me down anymore,” she emphasized. She would rather concentrate on the positive comments now.
Bruises and a swollen toe
Ten days before the meet-and-greet episode, where producers determine which celebrities will dance with which professionals, she has other concerns as well. The 29-year-old isn’t in peak physical condition, as she revealed in subsequent slides. After a fall on stairs last week, she still sports bruise marks on her buttocks and is dealing with a swollen toe. (no attribution)
