Strictly Come Dancing has confirmed its next celebrity contestant for the 2025 series – EastEnders icon Balvinder Sopal.

She joins a trio of stars who were announced on The One Show last night – Dani Dyer, Alex Kingston and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

The first celebrity to be announced was Gladiators star Harry Aikines-Aryeete, who originally took part in the Strictly Come Dancing 2024 Christmas special.

Strictly Come Dancing 2025: Who is Balvinder Sopal?

Balvinder Sopal is an actress whose career spans theatre, radio, film and television. She is most known for playing the infamous Suki Kaur Panesar (now Unwin) on EastEnders since 2019. As Suki she has been at the heart of some of EastEnders’ most gripping and acclaimed storylines, from being part of The Six to her on-off affair with Eve Unwin.

Before EastEnders, Balvinder appeared on many popular TV shows, including a guest lead in Call The Midwife series seven, Doctors and Waterloo Road.

On joining Strictly Come Dancing, she said: “Being on Strictly is a dream that I held on to, with no proof that it would ever happen. Working on EastEnders and being a part of Strictly Come Dancing is the stuff that dreams are made of. I’m far too excited to put into words how I feel but I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of dancing across the ballroom!”

The news was revealed this morning (August 12) live from Albert Square on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by BBC Strictly (@bbcstrictly)

Rumoured Strictly celebrities

Five celebrities have now been confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing 2025, but there are already plenty of other rumoured names in the mix. They include Neighbours legend Stefan Dennis and The Apprentice’s Thomas Skinner.

There has also been unconfirmed reports of another Olympian taking part in this year’s series. Sir Mo Farah has also been in talks for the show, it has been claimed.

Check out TV Guide’s full list of rumoured Strictly Come Dancing celebrities here.

Judges and new faces

The BBC has already confirmed this year’s Strictly Come Dancing pros. They include all of the fan favourites, including Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden, Vito Coppola and Johannes Radebe.

There are also two new pros joining the Strictly dancer line-up this year. They are Alexis Warr and Julian Caillon. American dancer Alexis has already appeared on So You Think You Can Dance? and Dancing With The Stars. Julian, from Australia, has appeared on the show’s counterparts Down Under, too.

Last week, Gorka Marquez announce he will miss a big chunk of this series. Gorka will also not be having a celebrity partner this year.

The dancer has a clash of schedules after landing a job on the Spanish version of Strictly, called Bailando Con Las Estrella. It means he will only be able to pre-record the group dances for Strictly UK and then bow out until later in the series.

The judging panel is remaining the same this year. Shirley Ballas will be back as Head Judge, sitting alongside Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse.

When does Strictly Come Dancing start?

The BBC is yet to confirm when this year’s Strictly Come Dancing will start, although it usually kicks off in September. Last year, the pre-recorded launch show aired on September 14 and the first live show followed the week after.

The series will air every Saturday and Sunday in the run up to Christmas. The 2024 finale aired on December 14. Last year, Chris McCausland and his professional partner Dianne Buswell scooped the Glitterball Trophy.

Read more: Best entertainment shows coming this autumn – include I’m A Celeb!

Strictly Come Dancing 2025 will air on BBC One this autumn.