The Strictly Class of 2018

The glitter ball is back, shinier and sparklier than ever.  Well, maybe not but it's definitely back. The Joe McFaddens and Debbie McGees are forgotten as fifteen new celebrities sign their names on the dotted line and give up their normal routines for ones filled with Tangos, Foxtrots and Rumbas as they shimmy and sashay their way through til Christmas.  The sequins are sparkling and the hair is bouncy and that's just the men.  We have many weeks ahead of pretty dresses, high heels and wiggling hips and I for one cannot wait.  Welcome to Strictly Come Dancing 2018.  As ever, I will be watching each week and passing my personal, non-professional opinion on the latest batch of wannabe champions as they compete for that shiny trophy.

So what's new and what's not.  Well, first of all, the hosts are the same as always.  Wooden Tess Daly and Madcap Claudia Winkleman return to run the proceedings and tell really bad jokes.  Also, no changes to the judges line up this year with Nasty Craig, Nice Darcy, Sassy Shirley and OTT Bruno.

There has been a small change to the professional dancers, however.  Brendan Cole has not been asked to return this year (possibly due to his feud with Shirley last year but that is pure speculation). Three new dancers have joined the show, two of them are just backups to help out in the Pro Dances and when extra dancers are required such as Blackpool or Musical Weeks.  They are Luba  Mushtuk and Johannes Radebe.  But we have a new dancer who will get partnered with a lucky celeb and he is the gorgeous Graziano Di Prima. He is definitely an Italian Stallion.

So who are the latest celebrities (and in some cases, I use the term loosely) who have exchanged their sneakers for stilettos and their tracksuits for tuxedos?  Here they are in all their splendour and who they have been partnered with.

 Ashley Roberts - Singer and member of the pop group The Pussycat Dolls.  She's been partnered with Pascha Kovalev.

 Charles Venn - an Actor, currently starring in Casualty as Jacob Masters and previously in Eastenders as Ray Dixon. He has been partnered with Karen Clifton. (I want him to do well as he definitely has an Idris Elba vibe about him)

 Danny John-Jules - Actor from both stage and screen, most notably his role in Red Dwarf as The Cat.  For this reason alone, because I am a HUGE fan of Red Dwarf, I will be backing Danny to win.  He has been partnered with Amy Dowden.

 Faye Tozer - Singer and member of the pop groups STEPS.  She has been partnered with Giovanni Pernice.

 Graeme Swann - Ex-England cricketer and broadcaster.  He has been partnered with Oti Mabuse, which is a shame because I love Oti's choreography but I don't think she'll be able to do much with Graeme.

 Joe Sugg - Social media star (YouTube vlogger).  I'm sure his millions of followers will come at me with shaking fists when I say his sister Zoella is more well known but anyway.  I want to dislike him because I don't consider him a celebrity, however, there is something rather likeable about him.  He has been partnered with Dianne Buswell.

 Kate Silverton - Journalist for the BBC, she has presented news programmes and reported live from both Iran and Afghanistan frontlines.  She has been paired with Alijaz Skorjanec.  I'm really looking forward to this pairing as she seems like a lot of fun and I really adore Alijaz after last year when he partnered Gemma Atkinson.

 Katie Piper - Now a presenter, author and charity founder, Katie was an aspiring model until a vicious attack by a former boyfriend who threw acid in her face and left her badly scarred and partially blind.  She has been partnered with Gorka Marquez and I really hope she does well as she is an inspiration to all young girls.

 Lauren Steadman - Paralympian Lauren was born without a complete right arm.  She started out as a swimmer and competed in two Paralympic Games before switching to be a Triathlete and won silver at her third games in 2016. She has been paired up with AJ Pritchard.

 Lee Ryan - Singer and member of boy band Blue.  Lee is the second member of Blue to join Strictly, his bandmate Simon Webbe competed in Strictly back in 2014 and made it to the final so no pressure there Lee! He has been partnered with Nadiya Bychkova.

 Dr Ranj Singh - yes he is a real doctor, he is an NHS paediatrician.  However, he has appeared on TV featuring on kids channel CBeebies show Get Well Soon and has also appeared on current affairs morning show This Morning.  Being only 5'6, it was obvious he was going to get a small partner, and there is no-one smaller than his partner, Janette Manrara.  Instantly dubbed the 'Pocket Rockets', they have been cited as ones to watch but can he dance?

 Seann Walsh - London born comedian.  I want to like him, he seems very likeable and funny (being a comedian one would hope so) but he's a QPR fan.  I'm a Spurs fan, they are not compatible.  He has been partnered with last years winner Katya Jones.

 Stacey Dooley - Investigative reporter, famed for her fly on the wall documentaries which don't shy away from the hard and shocking stories (child labour, people smuggling, domestic violence etc).  She has been paired with Kevin Clifton.

 Susannah Constantine - TV presenter is best known for the fashion show What Not To Wear which she co-hosted with Trinny Woodall.  She was pretty harsh with her criticisms on that show so let's hope she's ready to take some now as judging by the opening dance, she has three left feet.  Hardly any surprise to see she was paired up with Anton DuBeke. (Seriously Strictly, what do you have against Anton?)

Vick Hope - Television and radio presenter, currently presenting the early morning Breakfast Show on Capital Radio.  She has been partnered up with Graziano Di Prima (seriously I growl whenever I say his name - grrrrr).  This pairing is all about the big hair, the big hair and, yep you've guessed it, the big hair.







So there they are, just as Craig Revel-Horwood noted, like lambs to the slaughter.  Now they are all paired up, they head off to the dance studio for two weeks and Strictly will be back then for the celebs to wow us all with their first dance.  Safe from elimination in the first week, they have nothing to lose.

Until then, start dancing!

All images except my signature courtesy of BBC