Remember last week when the UK transitioned from summer to winter on 31 August to 1 September and the weather dramatically followed suit? We might all have the summer blues, but let's look at this glass half-full, yeah?
It's now spooky season which means Halloween parties galore, cozy nights in are the total vibe, we can actually sleep at night (sans extreme heat) and we can officially start getting excited about top autumn telly like Strictly Come Dancing and I'm A Celeb... Get Me Out of Here!
Strictly 2024 is very much on the autumn horizon with the first episode of the twentieth anniversary season hitting screens across the UK this Saturday (14 September). While we don't know the celebrity pairings yet, we do know which celebs are taking part in this year's series, and one dancer we're particularly excited to see take to the dance floor is Love Island's Tasha Ghouri.
As long as we've been interviewing the Love Island 2022 icon, she has been going on about wanting to take part in Strictly one of these days, so we're thrilled Tasha has finally managed to manifest this for herself.
Closer got to catch up with Tasha ahead of the series launch at the press conference for this series (which came with Strictly cupcakes this year – gorgeous touch), where we asked the reality star and model if she had been in touch with any past Strictly contestants for advice, to which she said, 'Layton [Williams].'
She continued, 'Yeah, Layton reached out and said good luck and smash it. I've known Layton a while, so he's been very supportive.'
Layton is a singer, dancer and actor, who debuted in 2007 in Billy Elliot the musical on London's West End, and has not left our screens since.
He is best known for his appearances in Bad Education, BBC’s Beautiful People, Everybody’s Talking about Jamie, and he took part in Strictly Come Dancing 2023, finishing as a runner-up with Nikita Kuzmin.
This friendship actually makes a lot of sense as Tasha is a trained dancer, so it's hardly a surprise that she's familiar with fellow celebs in these circles.
While Closer is over the moon for Tasha (and our good chum Pete Wicks, obv), certain members of the Strictly fandom have voiced their opinions regarding Tasha being allowed to take part in the series given her dance background.
This row pops up every year, and here's our response to it: snore. Let the girl live her dream.
The Strictly Come Dancing 2024 launch show will air on Saturday 14 September at 7:20pm on BBC One & BBC iPlayer.
WATCH: From 'You ain't ever gonna get this candy' to 'WHO'S EMMA?' - these reality stars reveal their favourite ever TV moments
Ben Pulsford is a digital writer for Bauer Media, writing for both Closer online and heatworld. When he's not getting paid to gossip about Big Brother, Love Island and The Real Housewives of Cheshire, he's storming the London LGBTQ+ scene as drag queen, Beary Poppins. Both Ben and Beary are awaiting an invite to join The Real Housewives of Cheshire for series 18. The budget's not there, but the drama is 💅