Who are the celebrities taking part in Strictly Come Dancing 2021?
The BBC One series is returning with a host of new contestants ready for the dancefloor.
The celebrity contestants confirmed for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing so far include a pop star, a TV presenter and one half of double act Mitchell and Webb.
Here is a rundown of who will be putting their best foot forward on the dancefloor:
1. Tom Fletcher
Fletcher is the lead vocalist and guitarist of pop band McFly, who have produced six albums and seven number-one singles.
The 36-year-old is the main writer on many of the boy band’s hits and is also credited with penning songs for One Direction and Busted.
He married longtime girlfriend Giovanna in 2012 and his wedding speech, which riffed on some of McFly’s greatest hits, later went viral after he uploaded it to his YouTube channel.
The couple have continued to document their lives together, including three creative baby announcement videos which delighted fans.
Giovanna, who is a bestselling author, also won the 20th series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2020.
2. Robert Webb
The actor and comedian is best known for appearing alongside David Mitchell in Channel 4 comedy Peep Show, where he plays unemployed musician Jez, or in sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look.
The 48-year-old has also regularly appeared on comedy panels for Have I Got News For You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, QI and Mastermind.
Webb read English at Robinson College, Cambridge and joined the university’s theatre club Footlights, where he met Mitchell.
In 2020, he had major heart surgery after a routine medical check during filming for the second series of his sitcom Back revealed he had a heart murmur caused by a mitral valve prolapse.
Webb has also produced a memoir, How Not To Be A Boy, based on his life growing up in Lincolnshire, and in 2020 he published his first novel, Come Again, and Olivia Colman narrated the audiobook version.
3. AJ Odudu
Odudu began her career as a reporter for BBC Blast on Radio Lancashire and went on to co-host the spin-off Big Brother’s Bit On The Side with Emma Willis and Rylan Clark-Neal and produce the documentary Manhunting With My Mum in Nigeria.
The 33-year-old has also done backstage reporting for The Voice UK and The Voice Kids UK.
She is also a qualified personal trainer and sports nutritionist and was appointed as a contributing editor to Grazia magazine in 2021.
Recently she appeared in ITV series Cooking With The Stars and is hosting ITV’s new gameshow Apocalypse Wow which sees celebrities compete in a series of physical challenges in a bid to win money for charity.
She will join Bafta-winning comedian Mo Gilligan to host a one-off special of morning show The Big Breakfast for Channel 4’s Black To Front day in September, a project which celebrates black talent in the TV industry.
