So is Ola also out?
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So is Ola also out?
Martine McCutcheon has also apparently been offered a role and turned it down due to lack of time. Agree definitely that it's a shame about the BBC axing favourites professional dancers.
Frankie and Clover
http://frankieandcloverstrictly.blogspot.com/
Strictly Come Dancing series eight will be launched with a red carpet event at BBC Television Centre next month, it has been revealed.
The one-hour studio launch will feature the celebrities, judges and pro dancers meeting for the first time, ahead of the live shows starting in October.
For the first time in the show's history, viewers will be able to watch the moment that the celebrities and pros find out who they are being partnered with for the series, in front of a live studio audience. In the past, the 'first meets' have been filmed in advance in either training rooms or workplaces and only shown on the first live show.
The programme will also feature "spectacular group routines" from both the celebrities and pros, and a revamped set ahead of the autumn live shows.
BBC controller of entertainment commissioning Mark Linsey said: "In a series that features more excitement and glamour than ever before - a red carpet event is the ideal way to launch this year's Strictly. This, along with a fantastic line-up of celebrities, even more professional dancers and a revamped set, will see this series getting off to a great launch."
The Good Life actress Felicity Kendall, Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe, TV star Patsy Kensit, ex-boxer Frank Bruno, rugby star Gavin Henson and former soap star Tina O'Brien are all rumoured to be taking part in the ballroom dance show.
The Strictly Come Dancing launch show will air on Saturday, September 11 on BBC One. Three weeks later, on October 2, the lives shows will start.
Kelly Brook is reportedly in talks with Strictly Come Dancing bosses to return to the show.
The model was forced to pull out of the 2007 series after the death of her father, but new executive producer Moira Ross wants to give her another chance to compete, according to the Daily Star Sunday.
A source said: "Kelly is one of the hottest contestants we’ve ever had on the show. Talks are still going on, so we will have to wait and see whether this year will be the one for Kelly. We hope so."
It is claimed that Ross is hoping to make the upcoming eighth series the "sexiest" yet. Other celebrities rumoured to have signed up to the dancing show include Tina O’Brien, Jennifer Metcalfe and Gavin Henson.
STRICTLY Come Dancing celebrities will meet their pro partners for the first time during a special live show of the BBC1 hit.
The two groups, plus the judges, will get together ahead of the eighth series which starts in October.
First meetings were previously briefly aired in the opening live episode.
Special group routines and a revamped set are also part of the plans.
Ex-Coronation Street star Tina O'Brien, rugby ace Gavin Henson and former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe are said to be competing this year.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz0wk2m7iX4
I love the group routines, I think thats a good idea and it works really well on Dancing with the stars
Strictly bosses looked to the stars to see their destiny – and promptly signed Michelle Williams up for the show.
Michelle, 30, sang with Beyonce Knowles in Destiny’s Child, the most successful RnB girl group ever. After they split in 2005 Michelle went on to play Roxie Hart in musical Chicago in London and New York.
A Strictly source said: “Michelle is a real star who has sung in huge venues and acted in the biggest theatres. But that doesn’t mean she can ballroom dance.
“We are taking her out of her comfort zone and getting her to do something from scratch. In her Destiny’s Child days she could be a bit of a diva, so it will be interesting to see how she finds the intense training along with drinking tea in a BBC canteen. It will certainly be an eye-opener for her.”
Michelle is still friends with Beyonce, and BBC bosses hope they may even persuade her to come and watch the show or perform here.
The BBC declined to comment on the line-up.
The celebrities will be officially announced next month and are thought to include rugby player Gavin Henson and Good Life actress Felicity Kendall.
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/...#ixzz0xP2pxLFe
TALK about troupe-ing the colour! Pretty Tanya Perera is really in the pink after being picked as one of Strictly Come Dancing's new pros.
She's one of four fresh faces who will perform weekly routines on the BBC1 show, which starts on September 11.
Tanya, who was in the West End production of Dirty Dancing, will team up with another newcomer, Shem Jacobs.
They're joined by Aneta Piotrowska, who'll dance with Ian Waite, and Crystal Main, who'll be Darren Bennett's partner.
Several of the pros, including Ian and Darren, will have no celebrity partner this year.
The Sun
Keith Lemon will never enter Strictly Come Dancing because he says 'it looks too hard'.
Speaking at the UK premiere of Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the Celebrity Juice star said:
"The training you have to do for Strictly. No way! I'm too busy with my movie and Celebrity Juice."
But Keith is no stranger to dancing after he entered Lets Dance for Comic Relief.
He said the training was gruelling: "I didn't even know I had to do that much training and it turned out I had to train for two weeks."
The Strictly Come Dancing series eight launch show will not clash with The X Factor.
Last month, the BBC revealed that the ballroom dance reality TV show would be returning with its first ever red carpet opening episode on September 11. Unlike last year's series opener, it is not scheduled to overlap with the X Factor auditions on ITV1.
Tess Daly and Bruce Forsyth will return to reveal the 14 celebrities that are taking part in this year's competition in a one-hour special at 6.25pm on BBC One. The X Factor airs on the same evening at the slightly later time of 7.45pm.
The Strictly launch show will unveil a new set, three new professional dancers and for the first time the celebrities will discover their pro partners in front of a live studio audience.
Strictly lost out in the ratings battle with The X Factor last year when the shows went head-to-head, despite posting its second-best viewing figures of any series.
Earlier today, Simon Cowell repeated his criticism of the BBC for scheduling the shows against each other, claiming that Strictly should always be on earlier.