It is that time of year again where we patiently wait for the BBC to announce which celebs will be taking part in this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The likes of former TOWIE star turned podcaster Pete Wicks has been confirmed, as has GP and broadcaster Dr Punam Krishan, with countless other stars already announced.
Pete isn't the only reality TV star who will be vying for the glitter ball trophy later this year, as Love Island finalist Tasha Ghouri will also be taking to the dance floor and we can already tell people are going to have THOUGHTS about this one.
![tasha](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/tasha-strictly.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
In case you missed it, prior to taking part in Love Island 2022 Tasha was a dancer and started learning ballet from the age of three.
Cue social media going into meltdown because she already has experience in the world of dance, but surely we can all agree that knowing ballet and knowing salsa is NOT the same thing?
That would be like claiming, just because here at Closer HQ we write about celebs and fake tan we could write about politics and motorbikes.
A dancing pro in one genre does not make you a dancing pro in another. We can assure you that if the Closer team were asked to run Crime Monthly for a week you would be reading about criminal celeb make overs rather than ACTUAL serial killers.
Still, this isn't going to stop the fandom from having thoughts.
With that in mind, here are a few other celebs who took part in Strictly and also have a history in the world of dance.
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Layton Williams
![Layton](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/strictly-layton-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Layton Williams is a west end star who took part in Strictly last year where he came in second place alongside Ukrainian professional Nikita Kuzmin.
Layton first appeared on the west end in the Billy Elliot musical when he was just 13 years old; since then he has gone on to star in Rent, Hairspray and Everyone's Talking About Jamie.
Ashley Roberts
![Ashley Roberts](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/strictly-ashley-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Ashley Roberts is a former Pussycat Doll who caused major controversy when she took part in the show due to her strong background in dance. Although a pop group The Pussycat Dolls are obviously insanely fabulous dancers and Ashley started perfuming at the age of three.
She ended up coming in second place with Giovanni Pernice, losing out to be Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton.
Debbie McGee
![Debbie McGee](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/strictly-debbie.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Debbie McGee was on the show in 2017 and made it to the final with Giovanni.
She was part of Corps de Balle from the age of nineteen and later joined Second Generation troupe as a dancer. It was the world of showbiz that Debbie met her late husband magician Paul Daniels, who she worked with as his "The lovely Debbie McGee."
Helen Skelton
![helen](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/strictly-helen-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
It turns out that although we all know Helen Skelton as a TV personality and actor, the former Blue Peter presenter won the Malta Open Dance Contest in 2008. Helen's dance partner was a wheelchair user and the duo beat 100 other contestants to take home the winning title.
When she starred on Strictly in 2022 she was matched with Gorka Marquez and they came in fourth place.
Nigel Harman
![nigel](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/stricly-nigel-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
He may be most famous for his role as Dennis on Eastenders, but it turns out that Nigel Harman is also pretty successful on stage.
Prior to taking part in Strictly, Nigel starred in Shrek the Musical and Guys and Dolls on the west end and also worked as a dancer on cruise ships.
Although he was thriving on Strictly, with Katya Jones as his professional partner, Nigel ended up having to quit the show due to an injury.
Alesha Dixon
![alesha dixon](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/alesha-strictly-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Singer and rapper Alesha Dixon starred on Strictly in 2007 where she won the series with pro dancer Matthew Cutler as her partner.
Alesha joined a dance school in 1999 with her soon-to be fellow Mis-Teeq member, Sabrina Washington. They later formed the iconic pop/RnB group and Alesha also featured as a dancer in the NERD music video for She Wants To Move.
Kara Tointon
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Actress Kara Tointon won the show in 2010 with Russian pro Artem Chigvintsev, she was the first celeb to be awarded a ten of the series by fellow Strictly winner, Alesha Dixon. At the time she was starring as Dawn on Eastenders but as a child Kara was a paid professional dancer and stared in panto.
Denise Van Outen
![denise](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/strictly-denise-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Denise Van Outen came in third place on the tenth series of Strictly after dancing her way to the final alongside James Jordan. A lady of many talents; Denise started as Roxy Hart in Chicago on the west end as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Tell Me on a Sunday before taking part in the entertainment show.
Jay McGuinness
![Jay](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/jay-strictly-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
As a band member of The Wanted, Jay was no stranger to the world of music when he took part in Strictly back in 2015. Not only was he an all-singing, all-dancing member of the pop group but as a child he attended the Charlotte Hamilton School of Dance in Newark as well as the Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama.
He ended up winning the show with Aliona Vilani as a dancer partner; receiving high praise for his Quickstep.
Pixie Lott
![Pixie](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/strictly-pixie-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Pop sensation Pixie Lott took part in Strictly back in 2014 where she was partnered with Trent Whiddon. Besides being a singer and songwriter, Pixie also has experience in ballet and starred in the BBC's Celebrate the Sound of Music when she was just 14.
Pixie and Trent were eliminated tenth making them just miss out on being part of the final five.
Angela Rippon
![Angela](https://images.bauerhosting.com/celebrity/sites/2/2024/08/strictly-angela-scaled.jpg?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
National treasure Angela Rippon was the oldest Strictly contestant and although she hasn't danced in the past she was the host of Come Dancing and was the chairman of the English National Ballet for several years.
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Emily Vierke is a digital writer who has dabbled in the world of celeb, beauty and fashion. She has a slight crush on Gorka Marquez and watches Jay McGuinness’ and Aliona Vilani’s Pulp Fiction inspired Jive dance at least once a week.