Who’s ready for a ballroom blitz?
Spray tans, sequins and salsas means only one thing – Strictly is back. Jane Haase takes a look at the latest batch of celebs to hit the dancefloor
Strictly come Dancing Saturday, BBC1, 7.45pm
LAST year was one of the most challenging in Strictly Come Dancing’s history, as the team behind the show had to deal with Covid regulations, some of which were changing as the show was on the air.
Admittedly, it’s not quite Strictly business as usual in 2021 either.
Due to the uncertainty around international travel, it was announced earlier this year that Bruno Tonioli would not be returning as a judge for this series.
He is being replaced by veteran dancer Anton Du Beke, who promises “to be kinder to all the couples than any of them have ever been to me”.
On Saturday, he’ll be taking to the panel alongside Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Craig Revel Horwood, but we won’t find out if he’ll be sticking to his word about being kind just yet.
That’s because as a launch show, tonight Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will be introducing viewers to this year’s crop of celebrities and pairing them up with their professional partners.
They include Olympian Adam Peaty, actor Greg Wise and Mcfly’s Tom Fletcher.
We’ll get a chance to assess their form when they take to the floor for a group number, while last year’s winner Bill Bailey returns to show them how it’s done.
Then next weekend, the competition begins in earnest...
Here we take a look at this year’s hopefuls:
Adam Peaty, 26, Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer
He says: “Honestly, I can’t wait! It’s just going to be different.
“I spend my whole life in swimsuits and if I’m not doing that, it’s photoshoots covered in oil so now I get to change the oil to glitter!”
Greg Wise, 55, actor
He says: “I can’t dance! So that’s the challenge. I think I’m in good shape, I’m lucky that I’m able to keep active. I know I’ll still be thrust into the ground by my professional partner, obviously, and find muscles I never knew existed.
“I’ve just got to learn how to dance, that’s the bottom line.”
Nina Wadia, 52, former Eastenders star
She says: “This year feels like the perfect year to just let off steam.
“It’s been a bit of a dark time for a lot of people, and it certainly was in our family as well, so I just want to go out and enjoy my life.”
Robert Webb, 48, actor and comedian
He says: “I’m up for an extreme costume.
“You can spray me most colours but I just don’t want to look like Donald Trump.”
Tom Fletcher, 35, singer in Mcfly and children’s author
He says: “I’m so inflexible, I’m just trying to touch my toes, I don’t know what else I can do!
“At the beginning of the year, when I first said yes, I said to myself
I was going to get into really good shape and life just got in the way.”
AJ Odudu, 33, TV presenter
She says: “I have zero previous experience, and I mean zero!
“I’ve never been to stage or drama school, but I’ve always liked clubbing.
“I’m confident when it comes to hitting the dance floor, but whether I should be confident, I’ll leave it to everyone else at home to decide!”
Dan Walker, 44, BBC Breakfast presenter
He says: “Yes, I’m competitive but I haven’t reserved a spot for the Glitterball Trophy. I haven’t got that in my headspace in any way shape or form.
“My idea is that I want to go home on a Saturday night, see the kids and hear ‘Dad, that was good!’
“If I get just one ‘Dad, that was good!’, that would be great.”
Katie Mcglynn, 28, former Coronation Street star
She says: “Every year I watch Strictly Come Dancing and I think that everyone has the time of the life doing it, so I’ve always wanted to do it. Secretly, I’ve always wanted to be a dancer.”
John Whaite, 32, former Great British Bake Off winner
He says: “Between the ages of 10-14, I did ballet, modern and tap.
“So I may have a few dancing bones in my body, but I’m not necessarily very good rhythmically.
“Ballet is very stiff and I can do a triple timestep but who knows what I will be like at ballroom or Latin!”
Ugo Monye, 38, sports pundit and former rugby union player
He says: “Both my girls, especially my eldest, Phoenix, love dance. She does ballet every single week.
“She’s obsessed by it and now she’s of an age where she can watch the show and watch her daddy on TV.
“So I’m really excited about that.”
Judi Love, 41, stand-up comic and Loose Women panellist
She says: “Everyone’s advice has just been enjoy, enjoy, enjoy and don’t worry about anything. And to really put myself into different characters every time I go onto the dancefloor.
“Also, not to read anything on social media and not to see it as just a competition but to see it as I’m experiencing something that is a whole moment.”
Rhys Stephenson, 27, CBBC presenter
He says: “I’m in it for the experience, but I’m also in it to win.
“For me, even when I am rubbish, I play to win. I want to know I’ve given it my all and shown what I can do.”
Rose Ayling-ellis, 26, plays Frankie in Eastenders
She says: “I feel like it’s so important for somebody like me to be on the show, I want to break down the stereotype that deaf people can’t dance and can’t enjoy music.”
Sara Davies, 37, Dragons’ Den star She says: “Deborah (Meaden) talks about it all the time and says it was one of the best experiences of her life. “Obviously, I wasn’t able to tell anybody I was doing it, so she didn’t know that when she was talking to me about it and I was asking her questions, it was because I was going on the show. I had to keep it top secret. “She said mainly your feet hurt a lot but other than that everything else is really positive!”
Tilly Ramsay, 19, TV presenter and chef, daughter of Gordon
She says: “I’m really excited to learn the waltz. It’s very elegant and graceful and something you can use that later on in life, I can keep that for a wedding!”