Meet the celebrities hitting the dancefloor in Strictly Come Dancing 2023
T
he 15 contestants participating within the upcoming sequence of Strictly Come Dancing have been confirmed.
Here is a rundown of who will likely be placing their greatest ft ahead on the dance ground within the BBC One competitors:
– Les Dennis
Comedian, actor and former Family Fortunes presenter has had a profession within the leisure business spanning 5 many years, turning into a stalwart of Saturday evening TV starring in comedies together with The Les Dennis Laughter Show and The Russ Abbot Show.
He is a star of each display and stage, showing on ITV cleaning soap Coronation Street as Michael Rodwell from 2014 to 2016, in addition to in hit performs and musicals on the West End together with Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Only Fools And Horses The Musical, Chicago and The Addams Family.
Dennis mentioned: “I had a knee replacement two years ago and I remember thinking to myself, ‘it may be time to slow down’, but you get something offered like this and it puts a spring in your step.
“I’m excited and I’m terrified. People at any age can do anything.”
– Annabel Croft
The former British primary tennis participant and broadcaster mentioned she hopes to swap a tennis ball for the glitter ball trophy as she was the 14th contestant named on this yr’s Strictly line-up.
Croft, who was the youngest Briton to compete within the Wimbledon Championships for nearly a century on the age of 15 earlier than turning into a junior champion on the match in 1984 on the age of 18, mentioned competing on the BBC flagship present has “come at the right time for me” after asserting the dying of her husband Mel Coleman, who had been identified with most cancers, in May.
She mentioned: “My husband used to love watching Johannes (Radebe). I just think he’s so amazing, that would be a dream to dance with him.”
– Nigel Harman
The British actor is thought for his function enjoying Dennis Rickman – the late husband of Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) – in BBC cleaning soap EastEnders from 2003 till 2005, and lately returned to the BBC on cleaning soap Casualty enjoying medical lead physician Max Cristie.
In 2013, Harman was on the centre of a hard-hitting storyline on hit interval drama sequence Downton Abbey, whereas his different credit embrace profitable an Olivier award for his function in Shrek The Musical on the West End.
On signing as much as the competitors, he mentioned: “I think I’m realising as time has gone on since I said yes to this, in my mind I think I’m a better dancer than my body is telling me.”
– Bobby Brazier
The EastEnders actor and mannequin is the son of former Big Brother star Jade Goody and Jeff Brazier.
Now greatest identified for taking part in Freddie Slater in Walford, Brazier has additionally made a reputation for himself on the catwalk, gracing the Dolce & Gabbana present at Milan Fashion Week.
On swapping T-shirts for sequins, Brazier mentioned: “EastEnders have had me dressed up in mad stuff – I’ve been a pumpkin, so I think sequins is fine. Even personally I wear some pretty crazy stuff anyway, and it’s all part of getting into a role for the dance and the different kinds of songs, so it’s exciting.”
– Jody Cundy
The Paralympic champion is hoping so as to add a glitterball trophy to his assortment, having already bagged eight gold, one silver and three bronze medals throughout swimming and biking occasions at seven summer season Games.
He at present holds the world document within the flying 200m and the 1km time trial and likewise holds 14 consecutive world titles within the MC4 kilo time trial however mentioned he’s extra anxious about getting knocked out of Strictly within the first week.
“My most nervous thing would be going out in the first week – even talking about it now my heart is pumping. I had a world championship final literally last night and my heart rate is probably higher now than it was then.”
– Ellie Leach
The actress is greatest identified for her function as Faye Windass in Coronation Street, tackling hard-hitting storylines together with being pregnant at 13, discovering she was going via an early menopause, and reconnecting with the kid she gave up.
She left the cobbles earlier this yr and mentioned the brand new problem of competing for the glitterball has “always been a dream of mine so I guess dreams really do come true.”
– Nikita Kanda
The radio host presents the BBC Asian Network’s Breakfast Show, having beforehand introduced the Saturday afternoon present.
She was lately nominated for presenter of the yr on the Asian Media Awards and hosts common experiences on BBC One’s The One Show on a spread of subjects from the rise of cashless companies to authorities assist for feminine sport.
She mentioned she is “still pinching herself” about becoming a member of Strictly, including: “I don’t think it will properly sink in until I step on to the dancefloor. I can’t wait to get glammed up and get out there. Throw the glitter on me.”
– Adam Thomas
The Waterloo Road actor will likely be swapping the classroom for the ballroom as a part of this yr’s line-up.
Thomas, who says he “can’t dance to save his life”, is greatest often known as Adam Barton in Emmerdale and has since reprised his function as Donte Charles in Waterloo Road, having been an unique solid member when the varsity drama first launched.
He has additionally appeared in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2016, and went on to co-host the spin-off, I’m A Celebrity: Extra Camp.
– Angela Rippon
The broadcaster grew to become the primary common feminine news anchor on the BBC in 1975 and went on to host reveals together with Top Gear, Antiques Roadshow, Children In Need and the unique Come Dancing.
Rippon will likely be 79 when the programme is filmed, making her the primary Strictly’s oldest contestant. The earlier oldest was Johnny Ball, who took half in 2012 when he was 74.
She mentioned being on the present will likely be a “scary” journey and she or he is “looking forward to the challenge”.
– Krishnan Guru-Murthy
The Channel 4 News presenter started his profession on the age of 18 when he introduced youth programmes for the BBC earlier than engaged on Newsround, Newsnight, BBC World and News 24.
The 53-year-old journalist has fronted worldwide news occasions together with the Omagh bombing of 1998, and 9/11 and 2008 Mumbai assaults.
Guru-Murthy mentioned he worries about his “general decrepitude” and is “slightly confused to find myself taking part in Strictly on the basis of you only live once”.
He has additionally reported for the Channel 4 international affairs sequence Unreported World, concerning the lives of people that reside in a number of the fastest-changing areas of the planet.
– Zara McDermott
The 26-year-old appeared in hit courting present Love Island in 2018 and later featured within the singing competitors The X Factor: Celebrity, and actuality sequence Made In Chelsea.
She has since made documentaries about revenge porn, sexual assault and disordered consuming for the BBC the place she has drawn on her personal experiences.
Her newest documentary sequence for BBC Three goals to make clear the circumstances surrounding the dying of 19-year-old Gaia Pope-Sutherland, who ran away from house whereas experiencing a psychological well being disaster in 2017, after reporting she had been drugged and sexually attacked by a person when she was 16.
In 2022, McDermott introduced new courting sequence Love In The Flesh on the channel, which sees {couples} who’ve solely ever linked on-line meet for the primary time.
She mentioned Strictly is “such a far cry” from her day job and feels the dancing competitors would be the furthest she has ever pushed herself out of her consolation zone.
– Angela Scanlon
The Irish TV presenter is maybe greatest identified for presenting the revamped machine fight competitors Robot Wars alongside comic Dara O Briain.
Starting off as a stylist, she labored on former Irish trend and leisure programme Xpose and is the one girl within the UK and Ireland to have had their very own Saturday evening chat present – Ask Me Anything on RTE One.
The 39-year-old has introduced the BBC’s Your Home Made Perfect and The One Show and can also be a printed creator and host of positivity podcast Thanks A Million.
Scanlon mentioned she is “panicking a bit” and wonders whether or not she must tan and if the sequins are itchy.
– Amanda Abbington
The 49-year-old actress is greatest identified for taking part in Mary Morstan in Sherlock, for which she was nominated for a greatest supporting actress Critics’ Choice Television Award in 2014.
Morstan served as love curiosity within the BBC drama – impressed by the Sherlock Holmes novels – for Dr John Watson, who was performed by Martin Freeman, Abbington’s former long-term accomplice with whom she has two kids.
She has additionally featured in Mr Selfridge, Wolfe and Desperate Measures, and the 2022 biographical movie, The Lost King.
Her stage credit embrace The Unfriend, a darkish comedy from Sherlock author Steven Moffat and author/director Mark Gatiss, the musical A Little Princess, and The Taming Of The Shrew.
– Layton Williams
Williams, who’s greatest identified for taking part in Stephen Carmichael within the sitcom Bad Education, rose to fame as a baby, enjoying the title function in Billy Elliot The Musical in London’s West End.
The 28-year-old has additionally carried out in stage reveals together with Thriller Live, Rent, Hairspray and, from 2019, he performed the title character in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
He has additionally been in comedy The Cleaner, drama I Hate Suzie Too, and BBC Two’s Beautiful People. He has additionally accomplished the voiceover for the BBC’s homosexual courting present, I Kissed A Boy.
– Eddie Kadi
Kadi is a stand-up comedian and was the primary British black comic to headline the O2 Arena in London.
The 40-year-old can also be a presenter and has fronted The Official Afrobeats Chart Show on BBC Radio 1Xtra and is a group captain on ITV’s panel present Sorry I Didn’t Know.
He has additionally hosted the Mobo awards and is in manufacturing for his personal documentary with Channel 4.
This yr, Kadi was nominated for greatest breakthrough presenter on the Edinburgh TV Awards.