TV presenting legend is the second Strictly Come Dancing contestant announced for 2023

By Lauren Hughes
published

The first wave of Strictly Come Dancing 2023 contestants has been announced tonight on The One Show

Angela Rippon in Strictly Come Dancing 2023
(Image credit: BBC)

The second Strictly Come Dancing contestant has been announced tonight on The One Show (Friday, 4th August 2023).

Angela Rippon CBE, award-winning journalist, TV presenter, newsreader and author will be dusting off her dancing shoes and joining the most hotly-anticipated lineup of the year this autumn.

She said of joining Strictly Come Dancing, "Having been a fan of Strictly since day one, and as a former presenter of Come Dancing, this will be quite an adventure for me.  

"A scary one, considering I’m about to be 79.  But I’m really looking forward to the challenge, and perhaps being able to learn to dance the Argentinian Tango!!”

Angela’s career spans over 50 years, having presented some of the biggest shows in current affairs, as well as being a familiar face on quiz shows and magazine programmes. 

She currently presents BBC's Rip-Off Britain and is a regular on Morning Live and The One Show. Angela presented the original Come Dancing between 1988 and 1991.

It comes after the news that award-winning actor Amanda Abbington was confirmed as the first celebrity contestant for Strictly on The One Show earlier tonight. 

It was revealed by Strictly Come Dancing prior to the announcement that the first contestants would be revealed on The One Show this week. 

Dance show officials tweeted on Friday, 'It’s time to start revealing our #Strictly class of 2023. Tonight @BBCTheOneShow 7pm.'

And it looks like there are some more famous faces on the horizon. TV legend Les Dennis has been "tipped" to join the programme, while there have also been rumours that Stuart Broad will be donning some dancing shoes after his shock cricket retirement.

TV presenter Steph McGovern also recently revealed she'd "love" to do Strictly Come Dancing during a rare interview.

We can't wait to see who's up next on the Strictly lineup for 2023!

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One in the autumn.

Lauren Hughes
Freelance writer

Lauren is the former Deputy Digital Editor at woman&home and became a journalist mainly because she enjoys being nosy. With a background in features journalism, Lauren worked on the woman&home brand for four years before going freelance. Before woman&home Lauren worked across a variety of women's lifestyle titles, including GoodTo, Woman's Own, and Woman magazine. After starting out working for a local paper in Yorkshire, her journalism career took her to Bristol where she hunted out stories for national papers and magazines at Medavia news agency, before landing a job in London working as a lifestyle assistant.

A big fan of adventure, Lauren is also a keen travel writer and loves sharing tips on where to find the best places to eat, drink, and be merry off the beaten track. Lauren has written a series of travel guides for London hotels and loves sharing her insights into a destination's cultural and culinary offerings. If you need a recommendation on any UK destination, she's more than happy to help. At the weekend, you'll usually find her hanging out with her pet cat (or anyone else's pet she can get her hands on), escaping to the countryside, or devouring a good book.