BBC announces professional dancer line-up for Strictly Come Dancing 2016

New to the fold are world-class Latin and Ballroom dance experts including World Champion Katya Jones, Ukrainian Champion Oksana Platero and top Spanish dance professional Gorka Marquez.

Returning to the Strictly dance floor are the marvellous male dancers, Anton du Beke, Brendan Cole, Kevin Clifton, Pasha Kovalev, Aljaž Škorjanec, Giovanni Pernice; and the fabulous female dancers returning are Karen Clifton, Natalie Lowe, Joanne Clifton, Janette Manrara and Oti Mabuse.

Louise Rainbow, executive producer of Strictly Come Dancing says: “We are delighted with our professional dancer line up this year and we welcome three new stunning dancers to our Strictly family. Our most recent series was a terrific one for Strictly, winning both an NTA and BAFTA Television Award, and we are all so excited to build on that and look forward to yet another brilliant and entertaining series.”

Strictly extends its thanks to Tristan MacManus and also to Ola Jordan, Kristina Rihanoff and Aliona Vilani, who announced at the end of last series that they wouldn’t be returning to the show; and finally to Gleb Savchenko, who has decided that due to family commitments he will not be appearing in the next series.

Gleb said: “I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the last series of Strictly Come Dancing and especially the way that the UK gave me such a warm welcome, but due to family commitments I won't be returning to the show for the next series - I'll definitely be tuning in though.”

Other professional dancers to join the Strictly family will be announced in due course.

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One in the Autumn when the celebrity line-up will also be revealed.

Pictures of the new dancers are available from the BBC pictures website

Pictured L-R: Katya Jones, Gorka Marquez and Oksana Platero

KP2

Professional Dancers’ Biogs: Males

Anton Du Beke
Strictly favourite Anton specialises in Ballroom dancing and has been performing since the age of 14. As a seasoned pro, Anton has appeared in every series of Strictly to date, but he is still yet to lift the Glitter Ball Trophy. Last year, Anton danced with Katie Derham and made it all the way to the Strictly final, finishing in fourth place. Anton was also memorably matched with former MP Ann Widdecombe, making it to the quarter-finals together in 2010 and other partners include Jerry Hall, Nancy Dell’Olio and Judy Murray.

Brendan Cole
Kiwi Brendan specialises in all things Latin-American and began dancing at the age of six, going on to become the New Zealand and Asian Open Professional Champion. Brendan was the first dancer to lift the Glitter Ball Trophy in series one with newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, and he and Anton are the longest serving professional dancers on the show. Brendan has also been a judge on the New Zealand version of Strictly.

Pasha Kovalev
Siberian-born Pasha has been a professional dancer on Strictly since 2011. During his five series with the show Pasha has made the grand final three times and he lifted the Glitter Ball Trophy in 2014 with his celebrity partner Caroline Flack. Pasha started dancing at eight years of age and his professional achievements include being a US National Professional Latin finalist as well as a finalist on the US version of So You Think You Can Dance, he has performed on Broadway and starred in the West End’s Burn The Floor.

Aljaz Skorjanec
Aljaž and his celebrity partner Abbey Clancy won Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 - his first year on the show. Born in Slovenia, Aljaz took to the dance floor at the age of five, enjoying success in his home country where he won 19 Slovenian championships in ballroom and Latin. For over a decade, Aljaž has represented Slovenia in the World Latin and Ballroom Championships, and has also appeared in Slovenia’s Dancing With the Stars. In 2010, Aljaz joined the cast of ‘Burn The Floor’ where he has since performed around the world as one of its leading males.

Kevin Clifton
‘Kevin from Grimsby’ is a former Youth World Number 1 and four times British Latin Champion. He trained in ballroom and Latin from an early age, taught by his parents, former World Champions Keith and Judy Clifton and went on to win International Open titles all over the world. Kevin made his musical theatre debut in 2010, starring in ‘Dirty Dancing’ in the West End, and he has been a principal dancer of the ‘Burn The Floor’ Dance Company for several years. Kevin is the only professional dancer to reach three consecutive grand finals, firstly with presenter Susanna Reid in 2013, secondly with Frankie Bridge in 2014, and most recently with Kellie Bright in 2015. Kevin is married to fellow Strictly professional dancer, Karen Clifton.

Gorka Marquez (pictured centre)
Latin dancer Gorka began dancing at the age of 12 and was consistently one of the top dancers in his country, representing Spain in the World Latin Championships in 2010 and reaching the semi-finals of the 2012 WDSF World Cup. In 2014, Gorka joined the global Ballroom and Latin dance phenomenon Burn The Floor as one of their leads and has toured with them all around the world. He joins Strictly this year for the first time and Gorka is hoping to bring his cheeky personality and some Latin passion to the ballroom.

Gorka says: “I feel very excited and grateful to be joining Strictly Come Dancing and to be one of the professional dancers for the new series. It’s something that every dancer dreams of and something that I always wanted to have the opportunity to do.”

Giovanni Pernice
Giovanni was born in Sicily and decided from a young age that he wanted to take up dance lessons. At 14 years old he moved to Bologna to concentrate on dance and be taught by some of the best teachers in the World. Giovanni’s greatest achievement is the day he won the Italian Championships in 2012. Giovanni’s favourite dance style is the Jive as he feels it reflect his cheeky character. In his first series on Strictly, Giovanni reached the grand final with his celebrity partner Georgia May Foote.

Professional Dancers’ Biogs: Females

Karen Clifton
Originally from Venezuela, Karen moved to New York when she was eight years old. After graduating from ‘Fame School’, LaGuardia High in New York, it wasn’t long before she was winning accolades, including United Amateur American Rhythm National Champion and Professional World Mambo Champion. In 2009, Karen appeared in the US series So You Think You Can Dance, before joining West End sensation Burn The Floor as a principal dancer. Karen reached the grand final with Mark Wright in 2014 and most recently was partnered with Jeremy Vine. Karen is married fellow Strictly Come Dancing professional, Kevin Clifton.

Joanne Clifton
Joanne is one of Strictly’s most decorated professional dancers and winner of 2014 World Ballroom Showdance Champion, five times British Champion, three times International Champion and Professional World Dancesports Games Champion 2013. She joined Strictly in 2014 where she partnered Scott Mills. The following year, as well as presenting as a guest expert on It Takes Two Joanne won the 2015 Christmas Special with celebrity partner Harry Judd. She and her brother Kevin Clifton are the first siblings to participate in the show.

Katya Jones (pictured left)
World Latin Champion Katya was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia and started dancing at the age of six, training in gymnastics as well as Ballroom and Latin-American dancing. In 2008, Katya formed a partnership with Neil Jones and together they won the World Amateur Latin Championships for the first time in 2010, going on to win the title a total of three times, before turning professional in 2013. In 2015, they became the World Professional Latin Showdance Champions and are four times undefeated British National Professional Champions.

Katya said: “I am so privileged to be joining Strictly Come Dancing. I know it is extremely intense, but so am I! I am fierce, fabulous, and would love to win!”

Janette Manrara
Janette was born in Miami, Florida and joined the Strictly family in 2013. She began performing in musical theatre at the age of 12. She worked for the largest Hispanic TV station, Univision, until the age of 18, and then at 19 she began her formal dance training, studying a variety of styles including ballroom, ballet, salsa, pointe, jazz, flamenco and hip hop. Janette has performed with Jennifer Lopez at the 82nd Academy Awards and she was the principal dancer in the TV series and live tour of Glee. Janette was a finalist in season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance in the USA before joining the cast of Burn The Floor at the West End’s Shaftesbury Theatre in 2010.

Natalie Lowe
Australian-born Natalie joined Strictly in 2009 after being a regular on the Australian version of the show, which she won. Natalie has won every prestigious award available to her, maintaining her title of the Australian Professional New Vogue Champion 2005-2009. Natalie’s highest place in Strictly Come Dancing is second, in her debut year with Ricky Whittle. She also won The People’s Strictly for Comic Relief in 2015, alongside her partner Cassidy Little, a Royal Marine Medic who lost his right leg below the knee during a tour of Afghanistan.

Oti Mabuse
Oti was born in Pretoria in South Africa and is currently competing in both the German version of Strictly Come Dancing and the UK series. Oti began dancing in South Africa as a young child along with her sister, who is also a professional dancer and a judge on the German show. She moved to Germany to push herself as she was the eight-times South African Latin American Champion and wanted new challenges. Oti has achieved many titles in her dancing career including World European Latin semi-finalist and World Cup Championship semi-finalist. Oti joined the series in 2015 and was partnered with professional boxer Anthony Ogogo.

Oksana Platero (pictured right)
Oksana has been dancing competitively since the age of six. In her native Ukraine, she was a Juvenile and Junior finalist before becoming National Youth Champion, an honour she held for three years consecutively. As an adult, she began to represent the United States and became a National US Champion taking first place in the Professional Rising Star Latin category. She also became the USDC World Professional Rising Star Champion. Oksana was a pro dancer on the US series Dancing With The Stars, where she danced for five seasons and has also worked as a choreographer for the US TV show So You Think You Can Dance.

Oksana said: “Words cannot describe how extremely excited I am to be joining the Strictly Come Dancing family this year. I am so fortunate to be given the opportunity. It feels so surreal and I cannot wait to get started.”