Who has been announced for Strictly Come Dancing 2024 so far?
The BBC One competition will return to screens this autumn
The 20th series of Strictly Come Dancing is set to welcome its first blind contestant, an Olympic champion and a pop star – all hoping to lift the glitterball trophy.
Here is a look at who will be hitting the dancefloor for the BBC One show when it returns to screens this autumn:
– Chris McCausland
Chris McCausland will be the show’s first blind contestant
The comedian is the first blind contestant to compete on the show.
McCausland lost his sight because of retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease, which causes gradual degeneration of the retina.
Following the Strictly announcement, the 47-year-old joked he must be the only contestant to participate in the show who has “never watched” it before.
The Liverpool-born comedian has hosted his own show on ITV on Saturday mornings, and has also featured on panel shows such as Have I Got News For You, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and QI.
– JB Gill
JB Gill previously appeared on the Strictly Christmas special in 2012
The singer rose to fame as part of boy band JLS – alongside Marvin Humes, Aston Merrygold and Oritse Williams – after they were runners-up on The X Factor in 2008.
The group went on to secure five UK number-one singles, a UK number-one album and embarked on numerous UK tours.
Following the band’s initial 2013 break-up, Gill later presented the BBC’s Songs Of Praise and he returned to the group when it reunited in 2020.
The 37-year-old also previously performed the jive with professional dancer Ola Jordan to Rockin’ Robin on the Strictly Christmas special in 2012.
– Tom Dean
Olympic champion Tom Dean picked up a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games, defending his 4x200m freestyle relay title
The British swimmer confirmed he had signed up for the dancing competition after reaching the final of the men’s 200 metres individual medley last Thursday night.
The three-time Olympic champion intends to seek out the wisdom of his Team GB teammate, Adam Peaty, who finished ninth on the BBC show in 2021.
He said: “Naturally you want to take a break after you’ve had a full Olympic cycle and the opportunity arose. I thought it would be really exciting to try something a bit different.”
Dean won the men’s 200m freestyle title at Tokyo 2020 and, last week, the 24-year-old from Bath, plus James Guy, Matt Richards and Duncan Scott made history in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final.
In winning gold, they became the first swimming team ever to defend an Olympic relay title with the same quartet.
– Wynne Evans
Wynne Evans is known to many as the ‘Go Compare man’
Welsh opera singer is best known to many as the moustachioed tenor from the Go Compare adverts.
Born in Carmarthen, he was also crowned Celebrity MasterChef champion for 2023 and is a presenter on BBC Radio Wales.
Throughout his 25-year career, he has had two number-one classical music albums, has been a principal at many major opera houses around the world and has delivered more than 200 performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
– Toyah Willcox
Toyah Willcox is a singer and actress
The singer and actress fronted the new wave band Toyah in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before embarking on a solo music career.
She has also performed in numerous stage productions and featured in various films including 1978 drama Jubilee, 2015 horror comedy Aaaaaaaah! and 2019 sci-fi Invasion Planet Earth.
In 2018, Sir Paul McCartney presented Willcox a Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Companionship for outstanding achievement in music, drama, performance and media.
Earlier this year she played at Glastonbury Festival with her husband, musician Robert Fripp, on the Avalon Stage.
– Dr Punam Krishan
NHS GP Dr Punam Krishan is the resident doctor for Morning Live on the BBC
Alongside her work as an NHS GP, Dr Krishan is the resident doctor on the BBC breakfast programme Morning Live and BBC Radio Scotland’s phone-in surgery.
She also regularly reports on health news as a broadcaster on TV, radio and national newspapers.
The TV doctor previously co-hosted a podcast titled The Medic Mum and is the author of the children’s non-fiction book How To Be A Doctor And Other Life-Saving Jobs.
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