Strictly Come Dancing celebrities begin quest for Glitterball Trophy

By Press Association

September 23 2023, 2:47am

Angela Rippon, Layton Williams, Nigel Harman, Ellie Leach, Amanda Abbington, Les Dennis, Adam Thomas, Eddie Kadi, Angela Scanlon, Nikita Kanda, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Annabel Croft, Jody Cundy, Zara McDermot and Bobby Brazier, the contestants for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One (Ray Burmiston/BBC/PA)

A host of celebrities will take to the dance floor as the 21st series of Strictly Come Dancing competition kicks off later on Saturday.

A launch show aired last weekend in which the 15 celebrities were paired with their professional dance partners.

Celebrities in the mix for the Glitterball Trophy this year include actress Amanda Abbington, broadcaster Angela Rippon, former Family Fortunes host Les Dennis and EastEnders star Bobby Brazier.

Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton du Beke appeared in the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 launch show on BBC One (Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

The BBC has revealed which songs the couples will dance to and the types of dances they will perform first.

Bad Education star Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin will perform the samba to Touch by Little Mix.

Rippon and Kai Widdrington will dance the cha cha to Get The Party Started by Shirley Bassey.

Brazier and Dianne Buswell will dance the foxtrot to All About You by McFly, and Paralympian Jody Cundy and Jowita Przystal will do the quickstep to I’m Sitting On Top Of The World by Bobby Darin.

Also to perform is Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon and Carlos Gu dancing the tango to Prisoner by Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa.

✨ Ready to Rumba? And Cha Cha, real smooth?
The full song and dance list is out and our celebs are set to dazzle on the dancefloor as #Strictly (tan)goes live on Saturday 23 September
Find out more ➡️ https://t.co/XPlaCuVRl6 pic.twitter.com/nJGcisHaIm
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) September 22, 2023

Actress Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola will jive to Can’t Tame Her by Zara Larsson.

Former tennis player Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe will perform the cha cha to Uptown Girl by Billy Joel and comedian Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer will dance the quickstep to Two Hearts by Phil Collins.

Dennis and Nancy Xu will tango to Don’t You Want Me by the Human League.

Waterloo Road’s Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk will cha cha to Waffle House by the Jonas Brothers.

Sherlock actress Abbington and Giovanni Pernice will dance the Viennese waltz to Pointless by Lewis Capaldi whilst EastEnders actor Nigel Harman and Katya Jones will perform the paso doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.

Radio presenter Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez will perform the waltz to Run To You by Whitney Houston and reality star Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima will do the cha cha to Rush by Jennifer Paige.

The last couple in the mix are Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lauren Oakley, who will perform the cha cha to Boom Shack-A-Lack by Apache Indian.

Judging the show this year are Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and head judge Shirley Ballas.

Meanwhile, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will present the show.

Strictly Come Dancing will go live on Saturday from 6.15pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Strictly It Takes Two will return to BBC Two from 6.30pm on September 25, with presenters and singers Janette Manrara and Fleur East.