Strictly Come Dancing 2024 line-up - Tom Dean and Jamie Borthwick confirmed (2024)

Josie Copson

Thank you for following along with our Strictly Come Dancing blog. We’ve loved sharing the line-up news with you all.

We’re closing our live blog for now, but be sure to visit Metro.co.uk’s Strictly page to keep tabs on the latest contestant announcements, fan theories, drama, and more!

There’s so much more Strictly gossip to come…

Josie Copson

Strictly Come Dancing has confirmed the 15 celebrities taking part in the 2024 series.

The full line-up is DIY SOS starNick Knowles, footballerPaul Merson, hockey playerSam Quek MBE, Olympic swimmerTom Dean, EastEnders actorJamie Borthwick, The X Factor winnerShayne Ward, Miranda actressSarah Hadland, Love Island’sTasha Ghouri, The Only Way Is Essex starPete Wicks, comedianChris McCausland, who is making history as the first blind contestant; JLS singerJB Gill, who was a runner-up on The X Factor, Go Compare singerWynne Evans, Gladiators athlete Montell Douglas, 80s music iconToyah Willcoxand BBC Morning Live starDr Punam Krishan.

Now that fans have the full list, they’ve spotted an issue – the lack of ladies. Out of the 15 celebrities, only six are women.

‘I’m guessing you had a lot of dropouts looking at this, only 6 women,’ wrote account Surviving2024 on X.

Christopher Reily wrote: ‘6 females? Ridiculous!!’

‘Sorry, but on a professional level a 9 male / 6 female cast is just horrific optics,’ added Thomas McNeilly.

‘Having a line-up with 50% more men than women and yet not one of them identifies as LGBTQ is.. a choice. So many male pros will be benched? And that’s hardly a celebration of all things #Strictly,’ summarised SuperTV247.

‘Really not feeling the #Strictly line-up this year. Especially the unbalanced 9 men 6 women ratio,’ remarked Laura Davidson.

Others have said they are bereft that Hannah Waddingham, who was previously rumoured to be putting on her dancing shoes, isn’t included. There’s always Strictly 2025!

Josie Copson

Sam Quek MBE, Nick Knowles and Paul Merson’s involvement in Strictly Come Dancing was revealed on tonight’s The One Show.

While speaking to hosts Alex Jones and Lauren Laverne, Nick revealed his motivations for putting on dancing shoes.

‘Last year, I was in Argentina and danced an Argentine Tango and I thought “I really like this”,’ explained Nick, whose elder sister is a Ballroom dancer, so will be able to provide tips.

Paul was convinced to participate after watching his friend and fellow football player Tony Adams, who was on the 20th series and partnered with Katya Jones.

However, he admitted that while he has enthusiasm, he doesn’t have bags of experience. ‘I’ve danced three times in my life, they were all at my wedding,’ he confessed.

Hockey player Sam wants to improve her skills past just throwing shapes on girls’ nights out and has one big goal for the series: ‘I hope to get to Blackpool!’

Josie Copson

The One Show faced some issues when informing viewers that Sam Quek MBE would be the final celebrity to join the line-up.

While Paul Merson and Nick Knowles were in the studio, Sam was at home in Wirral.

As Sam spoke about her excitement at joining, particularly getting to wear the dresses when she’s more used to being in a hoody and leggings, the sound was muffled.

Back in the studio, host Alex Jones joked: ‘Everyone is so excited, the sound has gone mad.’

Josie Copson

The final famous face to join the cast is Sam Quek MBE, former England hockey player who won gold with Team GB at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

‘As a former hockey player I’m used to playing as part of a team, but the thought of dancing on the Ballroom floor in front of a live audience is quite daunting!’ the 35-year-old said.

‘I’m chuffed to be a part of this legendary show and Quickstep into the shoes of a performer, it feels absolutely surreal but I’m ready for every bit of the adventure.’

The three final celebrities join the rest of the cast, which includes EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick, Olympic swimmer Tom Dean, Gladiators star Montell Douglas (aka Fire), Go Compare opera singer Wynne Evans, Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and JLS singer JB Gill.

Also competing for the Glitterball Trophy this year will be actress Sarah Hadland, Morning Live star Dr Punam Krishan, comedian Chris McCausland, singer Shayne Ward, former Towie star Pete Wicks and singer Toyah Willcox.

Josie Copson

Next up, is former footballer and broadcaster Paul Merson, who made his debut playing for Arsenal when he was 17 years old.

‘Joining Strictly is a whole new ball game for me, but I’m going to tackle this challenge head-on,’ the 56-year-old said.

‘I’m ready to swap the pitch for the Ballroom floor, so here’s hoping my two left feet can learn some movies and you never know, maybe I’ll be taking home the Glitterball Trophy!’

Just one celebrity left to go!

Josie Copson

The One Show has begun announcing the final three celebrities taking part in Strictly Come Dancing 2024.

First to be revealed is DIY SOS star Nick Knowles, who said that he’s ‘so excited’ to join the cast.

‘People may be more used to me getting stuck in on a building site or travelling the world, but dancing live on TV will be a whole new adventure,’ the 61-year-old said.

‘I’ve spent my whole life learning new skills and I’ve never been afraid of a challenge – there’s life in the old dog yet to take on one more big one – being taught how to dance! I’ll give it my everything …. and try not to embarrass my kids of course!’

Josie Copson

While the Strictly Come Dancing lineup continues to be announced, more reports about the ongoing investigation into conduct have been also arising.

Amanda Abbingtonhas reportedly ‘handed in more bombshell messages’ to theBBCbefore its probe intoGiovanni Pernicewraps up.

The Sherlock actress, 50, quitStrictly Come Dancinglast year before later making allegations against her 33-year-old dance partner, whom she labelled ‘nasty’ and ‘awful’.

The national broadcasterthen began an investigationinto Giovanni, who has strenuously denied the allegations and has previously said he looks forward to clearing his name.

The probe had been expected to conclude this week until a ‘dramatic intervention’ from Amanda.

Sources have said that the dancer was ‘on the brink of being cleared by investigators until Amanda handed in more text messages’.

They claimfurther revelations were discussedlast week during a meeting with two police officers conducting the probe into the dancer’s behaviour on the BBC show.

Josie Copson

In order to be show-ready, the Strictly 2024 cast have already been practising their moves with the professional dancers, which will help the producers decide who should be paired together.

While taking a break from the dance floor, JB Gill, Sarah Hadland and Pete Wicks took a group photo with Dianne Buswell, Vito Coppolo and Nikita Kuzmin.

In the joint post, JB and Sarah asked fans: ‘Who are we going to be paired with ??????? This was#prodancerspeeddating.’

It seems JB already has his eye on one dancer, as he later posted a TikTok with his wife Chloe Tangley.

‘When you come home and tell your dancer wife who your favourite strictly pro is,’ he wrote.

In the accompanying video Chloe is mock annoyed, while JB lip syncs to a popular Gemma Collins audio. ‘It was a bit of a laugh. It’s tongue and cheek,’ he expertly mouthed.

Pierra Willix

Before the next season of Strictly starts, judge Craig Revel Horwood has been in Australia acting as a judge on the series Dancing with the Stars.

However in a recent episode, Craig shocked many after embracing a truly unique tradition from Down Under – drinking alcohol from a shoe.

After being told by host Sonia Kruger what the act involved, Craig quipped: ‘It sounds absolutely disgusting.’

However after she got the crowd excited at the prospect of seeing him do a shoey and presented him with one of the pro dancer’s shoes and a bottle of champagne, he had to oblige.

Despite some clear uncertainty, Craig carried it out but did say it was ‘so gross’.

Pierra Willix

As we wait to find out who the last three stars taking to the dancefloor this season will be, some of the judges have been sharing their thoughts on the line-up too.

Ahead of the final announcement, Shirley Ballas posted a photo on social media with the celebrities already announced and wrote: ‘Looking promising so far. Lots of great announcements. Who are excited for?’

Sabrina Barr

Speculation is rife as to who the final celebrities doing Strictly 2024 are going to be, with fans sharing their theories hours before the last announcement.

‘Hope all 3 are women then coz there is hardly any!!’ a Reddit user called LushBunny36 wrote… as the line-up currently stands at seven men to five women.

‘Hoping that Nicola Roberts is there!’ added IllustroiusLimit8473, expressing their hope that the Girls Aloud singer will join the cast.

We shall see!

Pierra Willix

The final three contestants to be competing on this season of Strictly Come Dancing will be revealed tonight.

The complete line-up will be known by the end of the day, with the final announcement to come during The One Show.

Posting an update on social media, the show’s official Instagram account shared a post which tagged The One Show and read: ‘Our final three Strictly reveals tonight from 7pm.’

Pierra Willix

BBC viewers were left gobsmacked after tuning into a replay of Strictly Come Dancing’s first-ever episode.

Over the weekend the national broadcaster gave audiences a second chance to watch some of their previous offerings on BBC Four.

However, many were left shocked at the judges’ comments.

The late Len Goodman, Arlene Phillips, Bruno Tonioli, and Craig Revel Horwood -who remains on the series to this day – made sure the celebs knew exactly what they thought.

Comments ranged from telling the celebrities they needed to ‘convince people they can dance’, were ‘lumpy and awkward’ on the dancefloor’ and even ‘boring’ in their attempts.

One viewer labelled the episode and feedback ‘chaos’ while another said they ‘wish modern Strictly judges were more like this’ in dishing out their strong opinions.

Pierra Willix

Channel 4bosses are reportedly ‘fuming’ afterPete Wickswas cast onStrictly.

The former The Only Way is Essex star, 35, is set to hit the dancefloor.

However, executives at Channel 4 are not happy after it planned to air the next season of SAS: Who Dares Wins, which Pete also stars in, later this year.

The reality challenge series was filmed in New Zealand in July 2023 and is due to air in September, around the same time as Strictly.

A source said bosses were ‘furious but there’s nothing they can do about it’ after being ‘trumped by Strictly’.

Pierra Willix

Dame Arlene Phillips, who was one of the judges on Strictly from 2004 until 2008, has spoken about the ongoing scandal engulfing the show.

‘I think what’s happened, when you came into the show and those early years, the expectation wasn’t as high,’ she said during an appearance on Good Morning Britain this morning.

‘The actual process – it was hard, it was tough, and dancing is tough, we go through a lot in our bodies. But it’s become such a big thing now. People have been catapulted, literally, to enormous fame…including the professionals.’

‘So the pressure, now – as you say, for the professionals, their own personal fame.’

She added: ‘And they all have their own shows now. Nothing like that happened, it didn’t have the stakes as high. The pressure was there, everybody felt it… wanting to find a way to just become a dancer. Now, the pressure is another level.’

Pierra Willix

Welcome back to the Strictly live blog as we eagerly await the announcement for the last three famous faces who will be competing on this season of the show!

There’s been plenty of speculation over who they may be.

The last names were announced on Thursday, so there’s every chance we could find out more today!

Emily Bashforth

We’re closing our Strictly live blog for now, but be sure to visit Metro.co.uk’s Strictly page to keep tabs on the latest contestant announcements, fan theories, drama, and more!

Several stars are yet to be announced and, of course, we have the highly-anticipated partnerships to come.

In the meantime, keeeeeep dancingggg…

Emily Bashforth

Scandal has engulfed Strictly in recent months, with allegations made against professional dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, both of whom have left the show.

Amanda Abbington accused Giovanni of ‘bullying’ and ‘toxic’ behaviour (which he denies) in the training room before she quit Strictly five weeks in last series.

She’s since spoken out about receiving death threats online from his fans and claims she has been left with PTSD from her Strictly experience.

Meanwhile, according to footage, it’s believed Graziano ‘kicked and hit’ Love Islander Zara McDermott, prompting him to apologise for his actions and express ‘deep regret’.

Consequently, new rules have been implemented by the BBC, including introducing chaperones for rehearsals and hiring welfare staff to support stars.

‘Further training’ has also been given to cast members and crew.

According to The Mirror, the new training is ‘compulsory’ and failure to comply will result in employment terminations.

An insider said: ‘By making this training compulsory, the BBC are sending a crystal clear message to everyone involved in the show that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

‘The recent allegations and complaints have rocked Strictly, but they are determined it will not be derailed.

‘They are going to do everything they can to prevent misconduct in future.

‘They are taking these new rules very seriously indeed and anyone who does not comply will be gone in an instant.’

Emily Bashforth

Sadly, we might have to kiss goodbye to any hopes we have of Gemma Collins ever stepping onto the Strictly dancefloor.

The Towie icon has revealed the reason she’ll never do the show, despite plenty of her showbiz pals signing up in the past.

Gemma had a strong response when asked if she’d follow in Pete Wicks’s footsteps by donning sequins and spray tans.

She said: ‘No. I don’t fancy it. I saw all the stuff [about the scandal].

‘I don’t know what it is about the show that people fall over backwards about.

Adding of the recent complaints against pros ‘bullying’ their celeb partners, Gemma told The Sun: ‘I wouldn’t want to be embroiled in all of that, it’s put me right off.’

While many stars have Strictly on their bucket lists, Gemma is adamant she won’t ever do it.

The ex-Dancing On Ice star said: ‘I don’t fall over myself to do anything, never have and never will.

‘If you live your life dreaming of getting onto Strictly, you need to go out and get into nature.’

Brutal!