Strictly Come Dancing 2022 line-up rumours: All the possible celebs

By Jo Berry

Published: Monday, 23 May 2022 at 12:00 am

Strictly Come Dancing is the sparkly jewel in the crown of the BBC’s autumn/winter schedule, with the celebrity line-up usually revealed in late August.

The 20th season of Strictly will feature Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke on the judging panel, alongside regular hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly.

While we still have a few months before the official announcements, there is already speculation about which celebrities will be taking to the dance floor with their professional partners to compete for the coveted Glitterball trophy.

Read on for everything you need to know about the rumoured line-up for Strictly Come Dancing 2022…

Strictly Come Dancing 2022 line-up rumours

Gino D’Acampo

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Age: 45

Job: Celebrity chef and TV presenter

Instagram: @iamginodacampo

Italian celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo has been cooking up a storm on our TV screens since 2004 as a regular on This Morning, the presenter of Gino’s Italian Escape series, and one third of the travelling trio causing chaos around Europe on Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip.

The winner of 2009’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, Gino has been hotly tipped to join Strictly this year, although in the past he has turned down the offer to throw on a sequin shirt and samba across the dance floor.

“Strictly have asked me,” he told Daily Star Sunday in 2019. “But that show would require a lot of time and training. Who has got time for that? Not me, not at the moment.”

Helen Skelton

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Age: 38
Getty Images

Job: TV presenter and radio DJ

Instagram: @helenskelton

Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton sounds like a perfect choice for Strictly – the former Blue Peter star won the Malta Open Dance Competition in 2008 alongside her wheelchair-using partner James Ireland, and she has also danced in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special in 2012, where she was partnered with Artem Chigvintsev.

According to The Sun, an insider has said that Skelton has been on the “Strictly wishlist” for a while but the timing has never worked out – could this year be different?

Tom Daley

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Age: 28
Getty

Job: Olympic diver

Instagram: @tomdaley

Tom Daley OBE brought home a gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics, but could he bring home the Strictly trophy? The Plymouth-born diver is certainly up for a challenge, having completed the Hell of a Homecoming endurance test for Comic Relief earlier this year where he had to swim, cycle and row from London to his hometown of Plymouth, raising £1 million in the process.

Known for his love of knitting – a hobby he took up during lockdown – Tom is caught in a battle between ITV bosses, who want to sign him up for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and the BBC’s Strictly team, according to the Mail Online.

Dawn French

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ITV

Age: 64

Job: Actress and comedienne

Instagram: @dawnrfrench

The Vicar of Dibley and French and Saunders star Dawn French revealed earlier this year that she has been asked to do Strictly Come Dancing in the past. Talking on The Graham Norton Show in February, alongside Strictly professional dancer Johannes Radebe, Dawn said she was worried about signing up over fears of being made fun of.

“I might have been asked to do Strictly, but I fear I would be regarded as the funny one and made to do silly things. I take dancing seriously and I would like to do proper dancing,” she said.

As reported by Tellymix, she has spoken about the possibility of appearing on Strictly on her podcast. “At this age, you’re not taken seriously. Also, if you’re from comedy, they want to shoot you out of a cannon like Ann Widdecombe and I don’t want that. I want the nicest dress, the most elegant other dancer and to take it seriously, and nobody would want that.”

Louis Theroux

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Age: 52
BBC

Job: Documentary filmmaker and journalist

Instagram: @officiallouistheroux

The son of travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux, and cousin of actor Justin Theourx, Louis is best known for his probing documentaries including the When Louis Met… series and the feature-length My Scientology Movie, in which he attempted to gain access to the Church of Scientology.

Last year, Louis revealed he sometimes thinks about signing up to Strictly Come Dancing. Chatting on The Jonathan Ross Show, he said: “I like to think I’m a good dancer. I know I’ve had too many drinks when I’m in the kitchen dancing while listening to something on the smart speaker – often hip-hop – and I start doing the funky robot and then I start doing MC Hammer spins. And that’s where it happens and I start thinking I should really go on Strictly.”

Scarlett Moffatt

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Age: 31

Job: TV presenter and personality

Instagram: @scarlettmoffatt

Former Gogglebox star – and I’m A Celebrity queen of the jungle – Scarlett Moffatt has long been tipped as a potential Strictly contestant. She actually started dancing at the age of six, and trained as a ballroom dancer in her County Durham hometown of Bishop Auckland until she left for university.

It was originally speculated that Scarlett would join Strictly in 2021, and she responded to the rumours in an interview with Digital Spy: “Loads of people keep saying this. The Strictly people think I’m this pro-dancer because I do a few dances on TikTok.

“I just love dancing. It just makes you feel happy. Anything that makes you feel happy, I would sign myself up for.”

Joséphine Jobert

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Age: 37

Job: Actress

Instagram: @josephinejobert_official

French actress Joséphine Jobert is best known in the UK for her role as Detective Sergeant Florence Cassell in BBC’s mystery series Death in Paradise. She joined the show in 2015, left in 2019 and returned for the 10th season in 2021, before leaving – perhaps for good this time, in the fourth episode of season 11.

That means Joséphine may have enough free time to appear in Strictly this year. She revealed in an Instagram Stories Q&A in 2021 that she’d do the show and, as Hello! magazine reported, she responded to rumours that she would compete earlier this year.

“Well… I have to say that Google knows things about me that I don’t even know about myself. It’s interesting!” she said.

Rosie Jones

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Age: 31

Job: Comedian and actress

Instagram: @josierones

Stand-up comedian and actress Rosie Jones has written for numerous TV series including The Last Leg, Netflix’s Sex Education, Would I Lie to You? and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and is also a successful stand-up comic, performing to great acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. During her performances, she discusses her disability – Rosie has ataxic cerebral palsy – and in an interview with The Guardian last year said: “I hope disabled people can see me on TV and think: if she can do it, I can do it.”

Earlier this year, Rosie told Metro.co.uk that she would be up for appearing on Strictly. “I’d say what drives me, is when I was growing up, having cerebral palsy I didn’t see anybody like me [on TV].

“In recent years, people like Rose Ayling-Ellis on Strictly have just shown that having a disability isn’t a disadvantage and it will never stop me!”

Peter Crouch

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Age: 41

Job: Footballer and TV presenter

Statuesque striker Peter Crouch – he’s 6 feet 7 inches tall – is already known for his dance moves: in summer 2006, he showed off his robotic dancing skills while celebrating a goal, and promised he would perform it again if England won the World Cup.

While that didn’t happen, back in January 2017 he brought out those robot moves again to celebrate his 100th Premier League goal, and fans have been demanding he sign up to Strictly ever since.

It was speculated that he would compete for the Glitterball trophy back in 2019, but in an interview with Hello! magazine, Peter revealed why he had turned down the chance to appear on the dancing show that his wife, Abbey Clancy, won back in 2013.

“It’s on [Abbey’s] advice [that I turned down Strictly] because she’s seen me dance. I enjoy dancing but I’m not as technical as Abbey was.”

Jake Quickenden

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Age: 33
Channel 4

Job: Footballer and singer

Instagram: @jakequickenden

Former footballer, singer and TV personality Jake has got some experience in TV competitions – the Scunthorpe-born star competed in the ninth and 11th seasons of The X Factor, was a runner-up on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2014, and he won Dancing on Ice in 2018.

Most recently, he has appeared in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and he recently sparked rumours of a possible turn on the Strictly dance floor with a cryptic tweet that said: “Has anyone who’s done dancing on ice ever done @bbcstrictly just wondering.”

He wouldn’t be the first celebrity to do both shows, as Rachel Stevens, James Jordan, Jason Donovan, Denise Van Outen and Brendan Cole have appeared on the ice and on Strictly in recent years.

Strictly Come Dancing will return to BBC One in 2022. Find something to watch with our TV Guide or visit our Entertainment hub for all the latest news.

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