Vote For Strictly & Anton In The NTAs

It's time for the shortlist vote for the National Television Awards again.

Strictly Come Dancing is nominated in the Talent Show category, up against The Masked Singer, RuPaul's Drag Race UK and Britain's Got Talent.

And Anton du Beke is nominated in the Talent Show Judge category against David Walliams (Brtain's Got Talent), Mo Gilligan (The Masked Singer) and RuPaul (RuPaul's Drag Race UK).

There are lots of other categories to vote in as well. Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis is nominated for Serial Drama Performance for her portrayal of Frankie Lewis in EastEnders.

Make your voice heard here!

Strictly Lineup Complete

The Strictly Come Dancing lineup for 2022 is now complete.

I'm looking forward to seeing comedian Ellie Taylor on the dancefloor. I've been a fan of Ellie since she presented Snog, Marry, Avoid for BBC Three. She's a regular face on comedy panel shows as well as a contributor to Late Night Mash. 

I'm not familiar with Molly Rainford, but as a singer, actor and Sylvia Young graduate, I'd imagine that she'll be a bit good. You can see in this clip from Blue Peter that while she might not be the most convincing lip syncer, she can certainly move.

Former England and Arsenal footballer Tony Adams MBE is going to have his work cut out to keep up with youngsters like Molly. Footballers have never really done that well on Strictly. Perhaps Tony can break the mold.

Singer and 2011 winner of The X Factor Fleur East is going to be really popular, I think. She's so engaging and positive that people will get behind her. Like Molly, she has musical bones and that will likely serve her well.

Hamza Yassin is someone I'm not familiar with, as I'm not really into wildlife programmes. Hamza lives in the Scottish Highlands, so he'll be competing with Kate for votes from north of the boarder.

James Bye has played Martin Fowler in EastEnders since 2014. I really hope that the soap's producers give him an easy Christmas storyline - EastEnders actors have a really tough time combining training with emotional storylines. The only advantage is that Strictly and EastEnders both film at Elstree, so he doesn't have far to go to get to the set.

Former Blue Peter presenter and broadcaster Helen Skelton completes this year's line up. Blue Peter presenters have to be willing to throw themselves into anything, so regardless of her ability, I expect Helen to be up for giving everything a go. And this is not Helen's first go - she danced with Artem in the 2012 Strictly Christmas special. She was pretty decent then. Will she still be as good 10 years on?

More Celebrities Announced

Over the past few days there have been a number of new celebrities added to the upcoming series of Strictly.

First up is Loose Women's Kaye Adams. Kaye also has a show on BBC Radio Scotland.

I have no idea how Kaye will do. She's quite an elegant woman, and being a Scot must have some cèilidh experience, although that's very different to ballroom and latin. I think she will have a really good time on the show. I'm sure she'll be asking Judi Love for tips. I think she'll probably be partnered with Anton, Aljaž, someone great.

Next we have stand-up comedian Jayde Adams. Jayde first came to my attention when she co-presented the BBC Eurovision podcast in 2019. I get the impression that while comedy is her profession, she's also comfortable with a bit of a musical theatre and has dancing and youth theatre in her past. I think she could be a bit good. I've not really been a massive fan of Jayde, so I am hoping she can change my mind.

Paralympic gold medal winning swimmer Ellie Simmonds also joins the line-up.

Ellie's name has been rumoured pretty much solidly since 2012, so it's great that she's finally taking part. There is a lot of talk of course about Ellie's height - she is reportedly 4' tall. When Ola danced with Andrew Castle, there was over a foot between them, so I think Ellie will be fine.

Tyler West was the seventh celebrity to be announced. Tyler is a DJ on Kiss FM and has also been a presenter on CBBC and MTV News.
Admittedly, I am not familiar with Tyler, but that never matters when it comes to Strictly. They all get the chance to win over the public, and if you get a partner who is already popular with the viewers, you'll likely do well.

When I was 10, I had DMs with Grolsch bottle tops on and had turn-ups on my stone-washed jeans. Bros were the first band I ever saw live. Their songs are underrated in my opinion. Decades later, I went to see Matt Goss perform at the Rio in Las Vegas. I get that not everyone likes Matt - he does take himself a bit seriously - but I think he's going to be great on Strictly. If nothing else, he's going to be TV gold.

First Three 2022 Celebrities Announced

Here we go again! Series 20 is underway with the first celebrity announcements.

Actor Will Mellor was the first celebrity to be announced. He's been in loads of things, but the thing I always think of when I hear his name is Two Pints of Lager & A Packet of Crisps. He has also been in Coronation Street and Hollyoaks and hosts a podcast with his Two Pints... co-star Ralph Little.

An accomplished actor, but can he dance? I think he's going to embrace the sequins and spray tan for sure!

Kym Marsh is probably best known for playing Michelle in Coronation Street, a part she played for more than 10 years. But for my generation, she'll always be one of the members of Popstars winners Hear'Say. I was in the audience of CD: UK when Hear'Say went to No. 1 with Pure & Simple. She had the dance moves in those days, so hopefully she'll still have them now. 

Richie Anderson is best known as the weekday morning travel reporter on Radio 2, but he's also done bits of reporting for The One Show. It seems that his approach to jobs is to bang on about how much you love something on air, and eventually the BBC will let you do it. A Eurovision fan, he became part of the Eurovision team for Radio 2, and now his love of Strictly has landed him a spot on the show. He'll be nothing if not devoted and I know he will throw himself in. I'm a little skeptical about his dance ability, but I look forward to being proved wrong. Richie will reportedly be dancing with a male partner.