05 August 2023 , 09:36
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Strictly Come Dancing has added a fourth name to the series 21 line-up, with journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy set to make a debut on the dance floor this Autumn.
Krishnan said: “I’m surprised, delighted and slightly confused to find myself taking part in Strictly on the basis of ‘you only live once!’ and I can’t wait to start learning to dance, but I am slightly worried about my general decrepitude. I know I’m going to love it and have a brilliant time and just hope I’m not the only one enjoying my participation.”
The news was revealed on Claudia Winkleman’s BBC Radio 2 on Saturday following a series of clues.
Krishnan said he is already 'a little worried about his health' as he prepares to start training. "I'm not a very fit person, I'm quiet overweight and I have a heart condition as well so I have to be careful. But it's all going to be fine!" he laughed.
The award-winning journalist said he agreed to take part as a fun break from his day job which he described as 'incredibly serious and incredibly stressful.'
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Fellow presenter Jeremy Vine, who took part in Strictly in 2015, was on hand to offer advice and told Krishnan the show was 'more nerve-wracking than covering a general election'.
Krishnan said that his wife and 18-year-old pushed him into saying 'yes' after he'd been approached many times before, but his 16-year-old son was 'mortified' at the idea of his dad strutting his stuff.
Krishnan admitted that in the time it had taken for him to say 'yes' to bosses and be publicly announced he had already changed his stance on sequins and glitter. "At the beginning my view was I'm not doing any of that nonsense, I'll be wearing a suit. And then you can kind of think 'Well actually if you're in it to entertain then you've got to entertain. I don't think I could inflict by bare torso on the world though... but the rest of it yes!"
Krishnan Guru-Murthy is a journalist, broadcaster and the main anchor of Channel 4 News- and now the latest recruit to Strictly Come DancingThe latest reveal comes after broadcaster Angela Rippon, actress Amanda Abbington and Bad Education star Layton Williams were the first celebrities to be announced for the 21st series of the competition.
Angela will be 79 when the programme is filmed, making her the show’s oldest contestant, after Johnny Ball took part in 2012 aged 74.
She became the first regular female news anchor on the BBC in 1975 and went on to host shows including Strictly predecessor Come Dancing between 1988 to 1991.
Appearing on The One Show, Rippon revealed the first thing she asked the BBC show when they approached her was “why didn’t they ask me 10 years ago”.
She added: “The serious reason behind doing it is because I’ve been advocating ever since I did a series called How To Stay Young with Chris van Tulleken where we demonstrated as part of the programme that dance is the complete full mind and body exercise for everybody, regardless of your age, but particularly for people as they get older.
“And as I’m now 78, and will be 79 when we’re actually doing the programme… it would be wonderful if I could last long enough, a few weeks, and demonstrate that even at my age that it genuinely is possible for people that are older to be able to dance, to keep fit and strong and help with their posture and balance and to feel a million dollars.”
Rippon is joined on the line-up by Abbington, whose acting credits include playing Mary Morstan in Sherlock alongside her former long-term partner Martin Freeman who she shares two children with – a son Joe and a daughter Grace.
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Amanda Abbington and Angela Rippon will star on the new series of Strictly (BBC)The actress has also featured in Mr Selfridge, Wolfe and Desperate Measures, and the 2022 biographical film The Lost King.
After the news was revealed, she joked on The One Show that the main reason she wanted to do it was to embarrass her teenage children.
She also admitted: “I’m actually really shy and self-conscious so this will be a great opportunity for me to overcome those things.
“Plus, I get to learn to dance which I am incredibly excited about. I’m really looking forward to the training too, I’m quite competitive as my family and friends will tell you.”
The third contestant to be announced is Williams, who is best known for playing Stephen Carmichael in the sitcom Bad Education.
The 28-year-old rose to fame as a child playing the title role in Billy Elliot The Musical on London’s West End and from 2019 he played the title character in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
He has also performed in the stage shows including Thriller Live, Rent, Hairspray and New Adventures.
The actor told The One Show he is ready to go on a “rollercoaster journey with the cast” and “slay the ballroom floor”.
Williams added that he had requested to be paired with a male professional dancer as he revealed that he used to be jealous of his female classmates getting “thrown around” when he was at college.
Layton Williams is set to compete in this year's Strictly series (PA)Among the other names being speculated to join this year’s Strictly roster is 37-year-old England cricketer Stuart Broad, after announcing his retirement from the sport last week.
English ballroom dancer Shirley Ballas, who has been dubbed the Queen of Latin, will be head judge again as Australian-born choreographer Craig Revel Horwood, South African dancer Motsi Mabuse, and ballroom and Latin dancer Anton Du Beke also return to the judging panel.
Tess Daly, who has presented the BBC One show since its first series in 2004, and Claudia Winkleman, who took over from Sir Bruce Forsyth as the main co-host in 2014, are also set to return.
In April, the BBC announced that current reigning champion Jowita Przystal, who last year lifted the glitterball trophy with wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin, is returning to the show along with 2022’s runner-ups Gorka Marquez, Carlos Gu and Vito Coppola.
Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Graziano Di Prima, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones and Nikita Kuzmin were also confirmed to be among the professionals in the line-up.
Those taking to the dancefloor also include Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas.
The last series of Strictly saw Yassin and Przystal lift the glitterball trophy, after beating other celebrity couples Fleur East and Coppola, Molly Rainford and Gu, and Helen Skelton and Marquez in a public vote during the live show.