With the Strictly Come Dancing competition about to officially launch, meet the celebrities taking part in the hit BBC contest’s 15th series…
JLS star Aston Merrygold, 29, will return to the stage as he hits the dance floor with Janette Manrara. He has already thanked her for being “patient” with him as he adds ballroom and Latin dancing to his performance repertoire for the first time.
Aston Merrygold with Janette Manrara (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Scottish comedian Susan Calman, 42, was thrilled when she was paired with her dream partner, Kevin Clifton, and has spent the last few weeks getting used to wearing dresses and high heels for the first time since her college years.
Susan Calman with Kevin Clifton (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Hollyoaks star Gemma Atkinson, 32, will discover her “sexy” side for the first time when the competition begins this weekend. It will come after a tough week of training with partner Aljaz Skorjanec, which she admitted almost brought her to tears.
Gemma Atkinson with Aljaz Skorjanec (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Ruth Langsford, 57, has had a tough job adding the gruelling Strictly training sessions to her regular role as presenter of This Morning, but she was delighted to be partnered with show veteran Anton Du Beke and joked that she could not wait to make husband Eamonn Holmes jealous.
Ruth Langsford and Anton Du Beke (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Television’s Debbie McGee, 58, has said that taking part in the show with partner Giovanni Pernice has made her happy for the first time since the death of her husband, Paul Daniels. She told how Daniels, who took part in the contest in 2010, had always wanted to see her follow in his footsteps.
Debbie McGee and Giovanni Pernice (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Davood Ghadami, who plays Kush Kazemi in EastEnders, is putting everything he has into training with partner Nadiya Bychkova. The 35-year-old said the first day in the studio left his brain “scrambled” and he did not expect to be getting any sleep for weeks.
Davood Ghadami and Nadiya Bychkova (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Singer Alexandra Burke, 29, was given an emotional new reason to perform at her best with partner Gorka Marquez when her mother recently died. The Hallelujah star described her mother as her “biggest critic” and said that everything she does “is for her”.
Alexandra Burke and Gorka Marquez (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
TV star Brian Conley has tried his hand at almost every job there is in showbusiness, but he will be entering new territory when he joins partner Amy Dowden on the stage. The 56-year-old and self-proclaimed “dad dancer” has said it will be an experience he will never forget.
Brian Conley with Amy Dowden (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
ITV newsreader Charlotte Hawkins has admitted that she has a few nerves ahead of the first leg of the competition, but partner Brendan Cole has already described the 42-year-old as a “beautiful” dancer.
Charlotte Hawkins with Brendan Cole (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Holby City star Joe McFadden, 41, will be twirling Katya Jones round the dance floor, a year after the pro was teamed with former shadow chancellor Ed Balls. The politician has already given the duo his blessing, saying McFadden is “already so much better than me!”
Joe McFadden and Katya Jones (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Dubbed the fastest blade in Rio, 24-year-old Paralympic champion Jonnie Peacock already has a haul of gold medals to his name but is hoping partner Oti Mabuse can help him add a glitterball trophy to his collection.
Jonnie Peacock and Oti Mabuse (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Rev Richard Coles, 55, is most famous for being part of The Communards alongside Jimmy Somerville and will be hoping his musical background stands him in good stead when he shows off his moves with new professional Dianne Buswell, but has admitted he thinks his struggles might be more entertaining for the viewers.
Rev Richard Coles and Dianne Buswell (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Sunday Brunch chef Simon Rimmer, 54, has promised to throw himself into the Strictly experience in the hopes of cooking up routines that please the judges with partner Karen Clifton, and that includes fake tan, sequins and skin-tight clothing.
Simon Rimmer with Karen Clifton (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Actress Chizzy Akudolu is the other star of Holby City taking on the Strictly challenge alongside partner Pasha Kovalev and the 43-year-old has already said holding his hand is one of the highlights of her experience so far.
Chizzy Akudolu with Pasha Kovalev (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
The Saturdays singer Mollie King, 30, has been taking tips from bandmate Frankie Bridge as she hopes to follow in her footsteps and land a place in the final with her pro AJ Pritchard.
Mollie King and AJ Pritchard (Ray Burmiston/BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing starts on Saturday night at 6.25pm on BBC One.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here