'Strictly Come Dancing' shares a first look at this year's new professional dancers

Strictly Come Dancing logo 2021
Strictly will be returning to our screens at some point next month. (Image credit: BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing is returning to our screens next month, with our full celebrity line-up already confirmed by the BBC. This year we'll be seeing its first-ever deaf contestant and first all-male partnership, so there's plenty to look forward to when our new round of celebrities take to the dancefloor. 

But what about the professional dancers? We already know that Janette Manrara has stepped down to host It Takes Two alongside Rylan Clark-Neal, while Anton Du Beke will be judging on the panel as he covers for Bruno, but we haven't had a look at our new line-up of professionals... until now!

Strictly pro Amy Dowden excitedly shared a new photoshoot on Instagram, which features fan favourites like Oti Mabuse, Luba Mushtuk, Nancy Xu and Giovanni Pernice.

But it also confirms the arrival of new professionals, as we see newcomers such as Nikita Kuzmin, Kai Widdrington, Cameron Lombard and Jowita Przystal alongside the existing pros, with Amy tagging everyone in the photo so people can go and learn more about them.

Strictly hasn't yet confirmed who'll be paired up with who, but we can't wait to see our celebrities and professionals on the dancefloor together for the first time. Last time it was Oti Mabuse who lifted the glitterball trophy alongside comedian partner Bill Bailey, but who will it be this time around?

In other news, it was confirmed that Oti will be a guest judge for Season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, where she'll be following in her sister Motsi's footsteps by taking to the judging panel of the hugely popular drag competition.

Strictly Come Dancing is expected to return in September for its usual autumn run, so fans won't have long to wait to get into the swing of things. 

We'll be keeping you updated with all the latest news, so keep an eye out for updates! 

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC1 next month. 

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress