This year’s Strictly Come Dancing line-up boasts three new professional dancers.
They are: Italian Latin champion Graziano Di Prima, South African Latin champion Johannes Radebe, and four-time winner of the Italian Dance Championship Luba Mushtuk.
The three new additions give the show its biggest ever line-up of professionals with a total of 18, according to Strictly’s executive producer Louise Rainbow.
Their addition follows the departure of Brendan Cole and Chloe Hewitt.
During the launch show, it was revealed Di Prima will partner Capital FM DJ Vick Hope, while Radebe and Mushtuk are reserve dancers without an official celebrity pairing.
Here is what you need to know about Di Prima:
Di Prima, 24, was born in Sicily.
He has represented Belgium at the World Championships and for the past three years he has toured the world with the dance company Burn The Floor.
Talking about joining Strictly, he said: “This is my dream come true. I still can’t believe I will be one of the professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing. I can’t wait to give all of myself on the dance floor.”
Here is what you need to know about Radebe:
The 31-year-old hails from South Africa, where he is a dancer with the Afro Arimba Dance Company. He is no stranger to Strictly having been a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing South Africa for two seasons, and he reached the final twice.
He cited being on the UK version of Strictly as “one of the greatest achievements of my dancing career”.
Here is what you need to know about Mushtuk:
The Russian-born 28-year-old was ranked second in the European 10 Dance Championships and was a finalist in the Latin European Championship.
She has also worked on Burn The Floor and was part of the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour, and Giovanni Pernice’s and Kevin and Karen Clifton’s tours.
She joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 as an assistant choreographer, contributing to a number of group routines.