Angela Rippon to be Strictly’s oldest-ever contestant as first dancers revealed
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roadcaster Angela Rippon, actress Amanda Abbington and Bad Education star Layton Williams are the primary contestants to be introduced for the upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing.
The new batch of well-known faces, who will compete on the twenty first collection of the dancing competitors this autumn, have been introduced on BBC One’s The One Show on Friday night.
At the age of 78, Rippon would be the present’s oldest-ever contestant, after tv presenter Johnny Ball competed within the 2012 collection on the age of 74.
Broadcaster Rippon turned the primary common feminine news anchor on the BBC in 1975 and went on to host reveals together with Strictly predecessor Come Dancing between 1988 to 1991.
Appearing on The One Show, she revealed the very first thing she requested the BBC present after they approached her about participating was “why didn’t they ask me 10 years ago?”
She added: “The serious reason behind doing it is because I’ve been advocating ever since I did a series called How To Stay Young with Chris van Tulleken where we demonstrated as part of the programme that dance is the complete full mind and body exercise for everybody, regardless of your age, but particularly for people as they get older.
“And as I’m now 78, and will be 79 when we’re actually doing the programme…it would be wonderful if I could last long enough, a few weeks, and demonstrate that even at my age that it genuinely is possible for people that are older to be able to dance, to keep fit and strong and help with their posture and balance and to feel a million dollars.”
Rippon is joined on the line-up by Abbington, whose appearing credit embody taking part in Mary Morstan in Sherlock alongside her former long-term accomplice Martin Freeman, with whom she shares two youngsters.
The actress has additionally featured in Mr Selfridge, Wolfe and Desperate Measures, and the 2022 biographical movie The Lost King.
After the news was revealed, she joked on The One Show that the primary motive she wished to do it was to embarrass her teenage youngsters.
She added: “I’m actually really shy and self-conscious so this will be a great opportunity for me to overcome those things.
“Plus, I get to learn to dance which I am incredibly excited about. I’m really looking forward to the training too, I’m quite competitive as my family and friends will tell you.”
The third contestant to be introduced is Williams, who’s finest identified for taking part in Stephen Carmichael within the sitcom Bad Education.
The 28-year-old rose to fame as a baby taking part in the title position in Billy Elliot The Musical on London’s West End and from 2019 he performed the title character in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
He has additionally carried out within the stage reveals together with Thriller Live, Rent, Hairspray and New Adventures.
The actor advised The One Show he is able to go on a “rollercoaster journey with the cast” and “slay the ballroom floor”.
Williams added that he had requested to be paired with a male skilled dancer as he revealed that he was once jealous of his feminine classmates getting “thrown around” when he was in school.
Among the opposite names being speculated to affix this 12 months’s Strictly roster is 37-year-old England cricketer Stuart Broad, after asserting his retirement from the game final week.
English ballroom dancer Shirley Ballas, who has been dubbed the Queen of Latin, will likely be head decide once more as Australian-born choreographer Craig Revel Horwood, South African dancer Motsi Mabuse, and ballroom and Latin dancer Anton Du Beke additionally return to the judging panel.
Tess Daly, who has introduced the BBC One present since its first collection in 2004, and Claudia Winkleman, who took over from Sir Bruce Forsyth as the primary co-host in 2014, are additionally set to return.
In April, the BBC introduced that present reigning champion Jowita Przystal, who final 12 months lifted the glitterball trophy with wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin, is returning to the present together with 2022’s runner-ups Gorka Marquez, Carlos Gu and Vito Coppola.
Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Graziano Di Prima, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones and Nikita Kuzmin have been additionally confirmed to be among the many professionals within the line-up.
Those taking to the dancefloor additionally embody Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas.
The final collection of Strictly noticed Yassin and Przystal elevate the glitterball trophy, after beating different superstar {couples} Fleur East and Coppola, Molly Rainford and Gu, and Helen Skelton and Marquez in a public vote in the course of the stay present.