First Celebrity Announcements Tonight

The first three celebrities participating in the 2019 series of Strictly Come Dancing will be announced tonight on The One Show.

It's July.

This feels a bit like seeing Creme Eggs in the supermarket on 28th December - you're excited to see them back, but it feels too soon, you're not really ready yet and you'll probably be sick of them by the time the real event comes around.

Names in the mix include Tamara Ecclestone, Anneka Rice, Scarlett Moffat and Dev Griffin.

New Pro Dancer

The BBC have announced a new professional dancer will join Strictly Come Dancing this autumn.

Unsurprisingly, Nancy Xu has recently been in Burn The Floor. She is a latin specialist who made the final of So You Think You Can Dance? in China, which is where she is originally from.

Nancy completes the line-up, replacing Pasha Kovolev who decided not to return after eight years with the show.

New Judge Announcement

After months of speculation, the new Strictly Come Dancing judge has been announced as Motsi Mabuse.

South African Motsi is a former competitive dancer, and has lots of Strictly-related experience too. She appeared as a pro on two series of Let's Dance, the German version of the show, and has been a judge on the show since 2011.

And, of course, she is the sister of Oti.

Oti appeared on Let's Dance herself, so is no stranger to being judged on air by her sister. I can't wait to see their dynamic on air.

Oti is so beloved among Strictly fans, and if Motsi is anything like her I'm sure she'll be a great addition to the panel. 

I'm relieved that they chose a woman, as I like the gender balance on the panel in recent years. I'm also glad that they chose someone virtually unknown to Strictly fans. This worked well when Shirley joined.

Oti Joins Two Reality Shows

Oti Mabuse will be taking part in two reality shows ahead of the new series of Strictly.

She has signed up for Celebrity Masterchef. Former Strictly participant Greg Rutherford is also taking part. The show will be broadcast later this summer.

Oti is also going to be a team captain for All Star Netball for Sport Relief. Former Strictly participants Vick Hope, Denise Lewis and Jade Jones are also taking part. 

Oti's team will take on a team captained by Jennifer Saunders. The match will be shown on 20th July on BBC Two.

Congrats Gorka & Gemma!

Congratulations to Gorka Marquez and his partner Gemma Atkinson, who became the proud parents of a baby girl on Thursday.

Gorka posted the news on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝙿𝙸𝙲 𝙱𝙴𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝚆𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝟹🥰 Our beautiful baby daughter arrived on Thursday 4th July and myself and Gem couldn’t be happier 💗💗💗 She's incredible and she certainly made an entrance, giving us all quite a fright at times. @glouiseatkinson my absolute HERO! After seeing you go through all you did to bring our little girl to life has made me love and respect you even more. What a trooper you are. I couldn't be more proud of you!! ♥️ Thank you SO much to the nurses & doctors at The Royal Bolton Hospital who did the most incredible job taking care of gem and our baby. 🙏 Back home now for family time 🥰🤱🏼🐶🐶 #blessed

A post shared by 𝗚𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗭 (@gorka_marquez) on Jul 6, 2019 at 12:30pm PDT

Congratulations Pasha & Rachel

Congratulations to Pasha Kovalev and Rachel Riley, who got married in Las Vegas recently.

Rachel posted a picture on Instagram to break the news.

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Introducing the new Mr and Mrs Kovalev 🥰 We both said yes! 👰🏼🤵🏻💍🥂💕🇺🇸🇬🇧

A post shared by Rachel Riley (@rachelrileyrr) on Jun 30, 2019 at 3:31pm PDT

The couple are expecting their first child later in the year.