It's nearly time to dust off those sequins as Strictly Come Dancing nears its return.
The hit BBC show has signed up a whole new cast of celebrities who are brave enough to take on the challenge in an attempt to walk away with the famous glitter ball trophy.
During Friday night's episode of The One Show, the first celebrity among the cast of 2023 was confirmed as Sherlock star Amanda Abbington.
She is best known for playing Josie Mardle in Mr Selfridge and Mary Morstan in Sherlock alongside her former partner Martin Freeman.
Amanda and Martin share two children, a son Joe and a daughter Grace, and were together for 16 years before confirming their separation in 2016.
After the news was revealed on Friday evening on BBC’s The One Show, she said the main reason she wanted to do it was to embarrass her teenage children.
She also admitted she is “incredibly competitive” and is excited to get into the rehearsal room.
Angela Rippon was quickly announced as the second star who will be taking to the dancefloor.
Before the big reveal, the dancing competition show tweeted: “It’s time to start revealing our #Strictly class of 2023. Tonight @BBCTheOneShow 7pm.”
English ballroom dancer Shirley Ballas, who has been dubbed the Queen of Latin, will be head judge again as Australian-born choreographer Craig Revel Horwood, South African dancer Motsi Mabuse, and ballroom and Latin dancer Anton Du Beke also return to the judging panel.
Tess Daly, who has presented the BBC One show since its first series in 2004, and Claudia Winkleman, who took over from Sir Bruce Forsyth as the main co-host in 2014, are also set to return.
Dave Arch and his band will once again provide the soundtrack to Strictly on Saturday and Sunday nights as competitors again head to the prestigious Tower Ballroom in Blackpool.
In April, the BBC announced that current reigning champion Jowita Przystal, who last year lifted the glitterball trophy with wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin, is returning to the show along 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 were also confirmed to be among the professionals in the line-up.
Those taking to the dancefloor also include Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas.
Meanwhile, South African professional dancer Cameron Lombard, who joined the show in 2021, will not be part of the line-up for Strictly Come Dancing 2023 as he pursues “exciting future projects”.
In April, the BBC revealed that Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two presenter Rylan Clark would step down from the spin-off after four years, with singer and former Strictly contestant Fleur East taking his place alongside Manrara.
Meanwhile, Strictly star Amy Dowden will not feature as a professional dancer this year as she undergoes chemotherapy treatment after announcing in May that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and revealing she had undergone a mastectomy in June.
Source: Read Full Article
