TV presenter Angela Scanlon has become the latest contestant to join this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
She joins Eddie Kadi, Amanda Abbington, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Angela Rippon and Layton Williams on the 2023 line-up for BBC One’s dance competition.
Irish TV star Scanlon hosts the BBC Two series Your Home Made Perfect as well as a Saturday night chat show on RTÉ.
Scanlon said: “I’m panicking a bit… but also secretly thrilled about the prospect of all that glitter.”
She added: “I’m terrified, I’m excited and I have so many questions. Will they make me tan? How itchy are sequins?! Do they do flesh coloured sports bras? Well – there’s only one way to find out, right?!”
Scanlon was announced as the latest celebrity to join this year’s show on BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show on Monday.
Last year’s Strictly was won by Hamza Yassin, the presenter on shows like Animal Park and Let’s Go For A Walk.
This year’s series will arrive on screens in the autumn and will be judged by Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse.
Here are the other contestants who have been announced for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing so far:
Rippon said: “Why didn’t they ask me 10 years ago?”
She was the first female journalist to permanently present the BBC national television news, and was also one of the presenters of the BBC’s original Come Dancing series.
She hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977, presented ITV breakfast show TV-am, and famously appeared in a sketch with comedy duo Morecambe and Wise.
Rippon said: “Having been a fan of Strictly since day one, and as a former presenter of Come Dancing, this will be quite an adventure for me.
“A scary one, considering I’m about to be 79. But I’m really looking forward to the challenge, and perhaps being able to learn to dance the Argentinian Tango!”
Guru-Murthy is the lead anchor for Channel 4 News. He joined the programme in 1998 and is its second-longest-serving presenter after Jon Snow.
“I’m surprised, delighted and slightly confused to find myself taking part in Strictly on the basis of ‘you only live once!” the journalist said.
“I can’t wait to start learning to dance, but I am slightly worried about my general decrepitude.”
The broadcaster has also fronted Channel 4’s Paralympics coverage and was one of the original presenters of the BBC News channel, then called BBC News 24, in 1997.
Last year, Guru-Murthy was briefly suspended after he was heard using an expletive to describe a Conservative minister, something for which he apologised “unreservedly”.
Abbington is known for starring in TV series including Sherlock and Mr Selfridge, as well as stage plays such as The Son.
The actress said: “I’m thrilled to have been asked to do Strictly. 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. I can’t wait to start!”
Her main reason for taking part was to embarrass her children, she said, adding that she is perimenopausal and wants to “take the bull by the horns”.
However, some fans have claimed they will boycott the show after Abbington stirred controversy earlier this year with comments about drag performances, questioning whether young children should watch or partake in sexually-charged drag shows.
In an Instagram video, Abbington said she “loved drag”, but added: “Personally speaking, I don’t think 12-year-olds should be performing in drag shows in overtly sexual ways because they’re 12 and they need a childhood.”
Williams has performed in London’s West End in Billy Elliot, Thriller Live and Everyone’s Talking About Jamie. He has also appeared in TV series Bad Education and I Hate Suzie.
The actor said: “Absolutely buzzing to confirm that I will be taking part in THE most iconic dance competition in the UK! It’s time to bring it to the ballroom.
“So excited to learn new skills from the best. Bring on the sequins… ALL the sequins!”
Williams most recently provided the voiceover for the BBC Three gay dating show I Kissed A Boy.
Speaking on The One Show, he said he was ready to go on a “rollercoaster journey with the cast” and “slay the ballroom floor”.
The actor said he would be happy as long as he is paired with a male professional dancer so he can be lifted up during the performances.
Kadi, 40, is a stand-up comic who became the first black British comedian to headline London’s 02 Arena.
He announced his participation on BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Official UK Afrobeats Chart Show on Sunday, which he presents.
“I’m so unbelievably proud and honoured that Strictly and the BBC have asked me to join the 2023 team,” Kadi said.
“I promise you, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. This is going to be a vibe.”
SOURCE : BCC