The Wanted’s Jay McGuiness joins Strictly!

You WANTED another Strictly celebrity and here he is. James ‘Jay’ McGuiness, one fifth of mega-successful boyband The Wanted, is the tenth celebrity to join our star-spangled line up.

Known as the prankster of the band, Jay joined the group when he was just 19 following a countrywide search by pop impresario Jayne Collins. He joined up with his fellow bandmates Nathan Sykes, Tom Parker, Siva Kaneswaran and Max George and The Wanted were born.

The band are best known for their number one singles All Time Low and Glad You Came, as well as their platinum-selling, internationally acclaimed second album Battleground. The group are currently having a break following a whirlwind six years of success, which included their very own reality TV series The Wanted Life, which followed the band as they recorded their third album in the USA.

25-year-old Jay grew up in Newark, Nottingham, and from a very early age he showed a love of singing and dancing, practicing in front of the mirror with his four siblings. Despite this early promise, Jay is the first to admit that dancing isn’t The Wanted’s strongest skill:

“In the group we were about as coordinated as a sack of frogs, so they gave up and made us stand in different positions and walk around a bit, and we struggled with that.”

Jay isn’t overly competitive, and would be happy to just “get past halfway” in the competition. And despite playing to thousands of screaming fans all over the world, Jay has one overriding fear about when he first sets foot on the Strictly Dance Floor:

“That I completely blank. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone just stand there for the entire duration of the song, and I really don’t want to be the first.”

Away from the spotlight, Jay is an avid animal lover and even has his own pet lizard. He also loves reading, gardening, and popping to the pub (how very rock’n’ roll!).

Let us know what you think of our tenth Strictly signing and stay tuned to @bbcstrictly, facebook.com/bbcstrictly and here on our official News Blog for all the latest announcements.