Is Kerry about to sign up for Strictly?

Kerry Katona has emerged as the latest celebrity rumoured to be taking part in the next series of Strictly Come Dancing. According to the News Of The World the reality star - a former winner of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! is in talks with the BBC and is said to be "very interested" in the show. "With her background in pop music and performing she is certain to be a strong contender," a show insider told the paper. "Producers also think her no-nonsense northern personality would be a massive hit with viewers." Kerry - who sprang to fame as a member of girl group Atomic Kitten - enjoyed a career boost after winning I'm A Celebrity. However in recent years she has seen her marriage to cab driver Mark Croft break down and she has struggled with bankruptcy and drug problems. "This is the chance she's been looking for but she doesn't want to make herself look stupid and get eliminated in the opening weeks," a friend of hers said. "If she signs she wants to be sure she can go a long way because, if she achieves that, her career will be back in the big time." Other people tipped to join the series this autumn include Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh, Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, Gary Lineker's wife Danielle and actress Patsy Kensit.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.