The multi-award-winning entertainment show, produced by BBC Studios, will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this autumn for its 20th season, bringing glitter, glamour, and glorious dancing to homes across the country once more.
Ellie Simmonds OBE is a Paralympic gold medalist and broadcaster.
“Oh my gosh!!” exclaimed Ellie Simmonds OBE. I’m literally bursting with joy!! It’s been extremely difficult for me to keep this secret because I’ve wanted to tell everyone. I’m auditioning for Strictly Come Dancing!! I’m a little nervous, well, more than a little… I’m completely terrified! It’s an honour to be asked to join the Strictly family, and I can’t wait; it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m counting down the minutes until the show begins, learning to dance and meeting my partner and everyone else involved. It’s going to be a lot of fun, especially with the sequins and everything. I’ve been watching Strictly for as long as I can remember; it’s a tradition in the run-up to Christmas with my family, and it’s an honour to be a part of it.
Ellie is best known as a Paralympic gold medalist swimmer. She was the youngest British athlete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, where she won gold medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle events at the age of thirteen. She won gold in the 400m freestyle and the 200m Individual Medley at the Summer Paralympics in London in 2012, and she won gold again in the 200m Individual Medley in Rio in 2016. She has also won ten gold World Championship titles. She won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year at the age of 13, and a year later, at the age of 14, she became the youngest person ever to receive an MBE. In the 2013 New Year Honours, she was awarded an OBE for services to Paralympic sport.
Ellie Simmonds retired from competitive swimming in 2020 and went on to present for BBC Sport, most recently for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as make documentaries for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, including Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism? In a recently announced ITV film, she will explore disability and adoption.
The announcement was made this morning (Sunday, August 7) on BBC 5 Live Sunday Breakfast.
