CHINA WHIRL!
Strictly’s new pro dancer is a 28-year-old star from the East
STRICTLY Come Dancing has signed up its first Chinese professional dancer.
Nancy Xu, a specialist Latin dancer, will join the hit BBC show when it returns for its 17th series this autumn.
She was a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance?, the version of Strictly in her home country of China, and also performed in hit West End and Broadway show Burn The Floor.
Miss Xu, who turned 28 yesterday, said: ‘I’m thrilled and excited! I cannot wait to start this new journey with all these amazing people and share the magic together.
‘Thank you so much Strictly for one By Eleanor Sharples TV and Radio Reporter of the most beautiful birthday gifts ever, thank you for making my dream come true!’
There also seems to be no chance of Miss Xu falling victim to the ‘Strictly curse’ – her social media posts reveal her long-term boyfriend is Italian dancer and actor Mikee Introna Michele. Miss Xu’s dance credentials are impeccable. She a finalist in the under-21 World Championships in 2010, took third place in the 2010-2012 Chinese Ballroom Dance Federation National Amateur Latin Championships and was a runner-up at the 2013 International Singapore Championships.
Her appointment comes after Pasha Kovalev, who won Strictly with Love Island presenter Caroline Flack in 2014, announced earlier this year he would not be returning after eight series.
Last week it was revealed that Motsi Mabuse – the elder sister of the show’s star dancer Oti – will take over from the departing Dame Darcey Bussell on the judging panel.
It will be the first time in the series’ history that a judge and one of the professional dancers have been related. For two years the sisters worked together on the German version of Strictly, called Let’s Dance, where they had the same roles.
Miss Xu, who will perform in the group routines as part of the ensemble, joins Oti and other returning professionals including AJ Pritchard, Aljaz Skorjanec, Anton du Beke, Dianne Buswell, Giovanni Pernice, Gorka Marquez, Karen Clifton, Kevin Clifton, Nadiya Bychkova and Neil Jones.