Another year, another 15 contestants are set to cha-cha-cha their way across the dance floor for a sequin-encrusted season of Strictly Come Dancing.
Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton were crowned the champions of 2018 – but who will be battling it out in the ballroom in 2019?
Meet all the rumoured and confirmed contestants, below…
Chris Evans
A whole nine months before the show is due back on air, Radio DJ Chris Evans has revealed he has “said yes” to Strictly 2019.
“I have said yes,” he told The One Show on BBC1. “Everyone puts it off and tries and keep it a secret. No, announce now. We’re doing it now,” he said.
Evans hasn’t yet signed a contract, however, and joked that he had agreed to Strictly “primarily because my wife would like to go every week”.
When The One Show host Alex Jones offered to go with her, Evans said: “So you and my wife will go every week. You will have a great time while I’ll be petrified backstage, with shaky legs and all that kind of stuff.”
Evans, who admitted that rhythm is “not really” his natural forte, revealed he had discussed taking part in Strictly with the show’s commissioning editor Jo Wallace.
“We had a cup of tea and she said, ‘Are you up for it? This is what you need to know about it, this is the minimum, this is the maximum, it’s not as easy as maybe you imagine it is.’ But I know it isn’t,” he said.
Huw Edwards
Edwards revealed that Strictly bosses have asked him to join the 2019 series, and admitted he’s strongly considering it.
He told Radio 2’s Steve Wright: “Following my stellar appearance reading out the [Strictly] terms and conditions in early December, where I basically set the British television world alight, I was then asked whether I would consider Strictly.
“And I think the answer is, Steve, I’ve come here today for some advice and for your seal of approval.”
He did add, though, that the costumes “really scare” him and said: “I think I’ve just got to ponder it over the summer… just gauge public opinion.”
If Edwards does join the line-up, he’ll be following in the footsteps of fellow BBC presenters including Scott Mills, Zoe Ball, Kate Silverton and Gabby Logan.
Alan Carr
Comedian Alan Carr revealed to RadioTimes.com that after he read out the show’s T&Cs in the 2018 final, he did have discussions backstage about doing Strictly – but it probably won’t be in 2019.
“After I did the terms and conditions on the final this woman basically threw a net over me and held me hostage until I said id do it!” he said.
“I would love to do the show at some point but I’ve got lots coming up in 2019 including a few TV things and a stand-up tour, so it’s going to be very busy.
“I would love to do it at some point and it’s on my bucket list, but sorry – not next year.”
Louis Theroux
Documentary legend Louis Theroux got a lot of love on Twitter when he joked he might be donning his dancing shoes in 2019.
As he congratulated fellow filmmaker Stacey Dooley on her win, he wrote: “Congrats, @ StaceyDooley ! Me next! (JK)”
Congrats, @StaceyDooley ! Me next! (JK)
— Louis Theroux (@louistheroux) December 15, 2018
The official Strictly Twitter account responded straight away with a phone emoji.
But it appears that Theroux was just messing… or was he?
Vogue Williams
Irish model and DJ Vogue Williams is reportedly being eyed up by the production team of the Strictly Come Dancing to join the 2019 series.
The 33-year-old would be no stranger to the dancefloor, having previously competed in the Australian version of the show, Dancing with the Stars, in 2012.
However, insiders believe Williams, who married Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews last year, is perfect for the show, with pal Stefania Aleksander now a booker on Strictly.
The Sun reported Aleksander previously landed Williams her spot on 2017’s The Jump, where she met Matthews.
An insider told the paper, “Vogue has all the credentials to be on Strictly and is mates with someone in the casting department.
“It looks as though 2019 will be her time.”
A spokesperson for Vogue has been contacted for comment.
Deborah James
Deborah James (right) is one of the presenters of the BBC Radio 5 show about living with cancer: You, Me and the Big C. She has been raising awareness about bowel cancer and its symptoms ever since she was diagnosed with the disease, and now James has launched a campaign to get herself on Strictly 2019.
James is known as “Bowel Babe” to her followers online, and the campaign to get a place on Strictly is being circulated with the hashtag #bowelbabeforstrictly, which James is encouraging fans to share.
Rylan Clark-Neal
Rylan Clark-Neal, of This Morning and Big Brother presenting fame, might possibly MAYBE be signing up for Strictly 2019.
Speaking about which entertainment shows he would appear as a contestant on, the Express reports, Rylan said: “Not I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! – absolutely not… It’d probably be Strictly Come Dancing if anything, but I never make plans.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Clark-Neal has graced the Strictly studios, with the presenter having made a cameo on the 2018 series to read out the terms and conditions. Could Clark-Neal be destined for the dance floor next?
Mark “Bez” Berry
It is technically possible that Bez from Happy Mondays could sign up for Strictly 2019 after the musician said he wasn’t opposed to the idea back in 2016.
He said: “I reckon I could go all the way. Dancing has made me famous and entertaining people is what I do best. I’ve lost count of the number of blokes who’ve come up over the years and said, ‘Thanks for making it OK for indie guys to get on the dance floor.’”
Perhaps he could go “all the way”, having won Celebrity Big Brother in 2005, however Bez’s last TV appearance didn’t go so swimmingly, with the percussionist caught breaking the rules on BBC’s Bargain Hunt. There’s no way Shirley Ballas would tolerate anything of the sort on Strictly.
Michael Caine
Strictly host Tess Daly revealed to RadioTimes.com that the person she would most love to join the 2019 line-up is Michael Caine.
And it’s not completely out of the realms of possibility, as it turns out The Italian Job actor is actually a fan of the series…
“My list starts with Michael Caine,” Daly told RadioTimes.com. “I met him. He told me he’s a fan and he watches the show!”
Fearne Cotton
Following Fearne Cotton’s surprise departure from ITV2’s Celebrity Juice, the BBC Radio presenter could find herself waltzing onto the Strictly dance floor.
Chris Evans previously claimed that Cotton was “teetering on the brink” of saying yes to appearing on the show. “It will ultimately be a huge, massive sequin-covered yes,” he said.
Roman Kemp
Roman Kemp’s fellow Capital FM host, Vick Hope, is “certain” he will do Strictly “one day”.
When we caught up with former Strictly contestant Hope at the Radio Times Covers Party, she not only revealed that the radio presenter “has definitely been asked a number of times” to do the show, but that he’s also “a really good dancer and he was a champion foxtrotter when he was younger”.
“I don’t know in how many years’ time,” she added. “I won’t put a timeframe on it, but I’m almost certain he’ll do it one day.”
Scarlett Moffatt
I’m a Celebrity star Scarlett Moffatt has revealed she would “love” to be on Strictly.
She told the Mirror: “I’m not exclusive to ITV, so I can do what I want… I’ve always loved Strictly – I’d love to be on it.”
If Moffatt does join the Strictly line-up, there’ll be at least one familiar face in the studios: that of Anton Du Beke, who she says actually taught her dancing when she was a child.
Call the Midwife cast
We caught up with the cast of Call the Midwife at the Radio Times Covers Party and discovered whether they would ever consider swapping Nonnatus House for the dance floor…
“I mean, never say never but I don’t think… I wouldn’t be as graceful as Helen [George] I don’t think,” said Jennifer Kirby.
Leonie Elliott, meanwhile, admitted it would be “tempting” to join the line-up: “Oooh I don’t know, I don’t know! I suppose it’s tempting, but I don’t know. We’d have to see.”
And even though Stephen McGann,who was in the audience for Strictly last series with Helen George, insists he wouldn’t appear on the show, he’s clearly given it some serious thought and does concede that it would be “nice to be asked”.
“Have I been approached? No. Would I consider? No,” he told us. “I loved doing the charity special a few years ago, I adored it. As you can see from me in the audience, I am the biggest fanboy in the world, I adore the show. I just am not up to it, I’m afraid. I’m just getting a little bit too long in the tooth for that I think.
“And my wife, even more so, she sits next to me – she says, ‘You wouldn’t do it, would you? No no no – you’re not going to do it are you? You’re not going to do it?’ I said, ‘All right I’m not, no!’ But no, they haven’t come to ask me. It’d still be nice to be asked though.”
This page will be updated again soon…
from Radio Times http://bit.ly/2RCRxBD
