It’s almost time to dust off your dancing shoes and brush up on your cha-cha-chas because Strictly Come Dancing 2025 is around the corner.
The BBC is in the process of announcing its starry cast of celebrities who will be performing on this year’s series, with confirmed stars so far including a Gladiators athlete, an EastEnders star and a football legend.
These stars are set to become household names over the coming months with their weekly routines performed, if they’re a hit with viewers, right up until Christmas. But what are they famous for and, more importantly, do they have previous dance experience?
Find everything you need to know about all of the contestants, as they’re announced, below:
George Clarke
George Clarke, a British YouTuber, podcaster and social media star, has said he’s prepared to “fall over a fair bit” as a contestant on Strictly.
Clarke, also known as George Clarkey to his millions of followers online, rose to prominence after sharing humorous skits and challenges on his TikTok account and YouTube channel. He also hosts a podcast, The Useless Hotline.
When his casting was announced on BBC Radio 1 on Tuesday (12 August), Clarke said: “I feel like a lot of people will be saying… ‘Who?’”
On joining the show, he said: “Never thought I’d say this… but I’m doing Strictly! Honestly, I’ve got no idea what I’m doing but I’m excited to get stuck in.”
Balvinder Sopal
Balvinder Sopal has played Walford matriarch Suki Kaur Panesar (now Unwin) on EastEnders since 2019. She said of her casting on Strictly: “Working on EastEnders and being a part of Strictly Come Dancing is the stuff that dreams are made of.”
As Suki, she has been at the heart of some of the soap’s most gripping storylines, from escaping her abusive husband Nish (Navin Chowdhry) to her on-off affair with Eve Unwin (Heather Peace).
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Away from Albert Square, Sopal has also appeared in Call The Midwife, Doctors, and Waterloo Road.
Sopal said “being on Strictly is a dream that I held on to, with no proof that it would ever happen”, adding: “I’m far too excited to put into words how I feel but I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of dancing across the ballroom!”
The news was revealed from Albert Square on Tuesday 12 August on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, where Sopal revealed she has past dancing experience.
“I dabbled a little bit. I did ballroom and Latin as a hobby and really loved it. When you’ve got a passion for something, you’re more inclined to enjoy it.”
Dani Dyer
Dyer, the daughter of EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, shot to fame after winning Love Island in 2018.
She has since fronted documentaries such as Is This Anxiety?, teamed up with her father Danny for podcast Live and Let Dyers as well as the travelogue series Absolutely Dyer: Danny and Dani Do Italy. She has also made guest appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox.
Dyer, who is married to West Ham footballer Jarrod Bowen, is also a published author, having released her debut book, What Would Dani Do? , in 2019.
On joining Strictly, Dyer said: “Getting the opportunity to be on Strictly is the second most amazing thing I’ve done this year! I feel very very blessed and cannot wait to get my dancing shoes on.”
Appearing on The One Show on 11 August, Dyer admitted that she was most worried about “picking up the routines and performing on live telly”.
Alex Kingston
Alex Kingston, known for her roles in the US medical drama ER and in sci-fi series Doctor Who, said she was inspired to join the show after seeing her friend, Miranda actor Sarah Hadland, finish as a runner-up on the 2024 series.
Kingston gained international fame as Dr Elizabeth Corday in ER for eight years, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role. She is known to millions of Doctor Who fans as River Song, AKA The Doctor’s Wife, which she has played opposite three Doctors.
She has also appeared in TV shows Douglas Is Cancelled, Treason, Gilmore Girls: A Year in The Life, Boudica and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She has held numerous stage roles, as Lady Macbeth, Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and Prospero for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Tempest.
While appearing on The One Show for her Strictly announcement, Kingston admitted that she was “terrified”.
On whether she had any previous dance experience, Kingston said that her “hips don’t lie”.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Dutch football legend Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who currently works as an assistant coach for the England football team alongside manager Gareth Southgate, said he signed up to Strictly for his daughters.
“I’m a father of only girls and Strictly is part of our home life. I’ve gotten into it, and I like the show, so let’s have a go,” he told The One Show.
Hasselbaink has played for clubs including Leeds United, Atlético Madrid and Chelsea, earning a reputation as a prolific goal scorer.
Since retiring, Hasselbaink has become a familiar face in football punditry in the UK, and has managed clubs including Burton Albion and Northampton Town.
Hasselbaink, 53, admitted the dancing competition will bring him “totally out of my comfort zone,” adding: “I have no idea what to expect, I have a little bit of rhythm.”
He added that appearing on Strictly would be more nerve-wracking than scoring goals in front of thousands each week, saying: “Playing football in front of 70,000 people is easy, but dancing in front of people and with a partner who knows it 100 times better than you, it’s crazy.”
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, known as Nitro to Gladiators fans, was the first star to be announced for the 2025 series. He said of the casting: “I’m so excited to be part of the Strictly family this series and I’m ready to give it all I’ve got.”
The athlete, a former Team GB sprinter who joined Gladiators in 2023, took part in last year’s Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special alongside professional dancer Nancy Xu.
Aikines-Aryeetey said the Christmas Special “was so nice I just had to do it twice”.
He has competed at two Olympic Games and is a three-time European champion and two-time Commonwealth champion. He also became the first athlete to win gold medals at both 100 and 200 metres at the World Youth Championships. He won the 2005 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year, aged 17.
He follows in the footsteps of his Gladiators co-star Montell Douglas, who appeared on last year’s 20th anniversary series of Strictly and was eliminated in week 10.
The remaining contestants will be announced throughout August. The rumoured names for this year’s series include former GB athlete Mo Farah and Sort Your Life Out presenter Stacey Solomon.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One from September through to December.
