First Tour Celebs Announced

The first batch of celebrities to take part in the 2011 live tour have been announced. If you're enjoying this series, you're in luck.

From years gone by, we have:
Colin Jackson (Series 3)
Ricky Whittle (Series 7)

And from the current series:
Patsy Kensit
Tina O'Brien
Pamela Stephenson
Kara Tointon

Just as before, Len, Craig and Bruno will be giving their scores. Hosting this year will be Series 3 finalist (and a personal favourite of mine), Zoe Ball. While I am sorry to see Kate Thornton go, as I think she was brilliant and very natually funny, I couldn't ask for a better replacement than Zoe. Maybe Ian will take her for a last spin around the floor...

None of the pros have been announced yet. It will be interesting to see if Jared, Robin and Artem will be partnering their ladies. I'm not sure if the tour's producers sign up the dancers as far in advance as they used to. Many times we've seen dancers who have left the show being part of the tour (I can't help wondering if any of those who left before this series might already be committed to the show). And, of course, Arlene did the tour because she'd signed before she was sacked from the programme.