Strictly Come Dancing has announced the first three celebrities to perform on the 2024 UK Arena tour.
Former Corrie actress Ellie Leach, 22, will join Angela Rippon, 79, and Layton Williams, 29, as they dazzle audiences across the country.
All three, who are participating in the current series, will put on their dancing shoes in January together with other stars yet to be named for the 30 dazzling shows.
They are joined by Strictly legends Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood returning to their judges’ seats and tour host, It Takes Two’s Janette Manrara.
Following the announcement, Ellie said: ‘I said before that appearing on Strictly was a dream come true and now I’m going on tour too!’.
I can not wait! Strictly Come Dancing has announced the first three celebrities to perform on the 2024 UK Arena tour (Ellie Leach pictured)
Line-up: Former Corrie actress Ellie Leach, 22, will join Angela Rippon, 79 (left) and Layton Williams, 29 (right) as they dazzle audiences across the country
‘I can’t wait until January to experience it all again – it’s going to be amazing!’.
While Angela said: ‘Having really challenged myself on the TV show over the last seven weeks, it will be great to continue the Strictly Magic on tour next year.’
‘From hosting Come Dancing to performing in front of over 10,000 people at The O2 – I have truly completed the ultimate Strictly journey!’.
With Layton adding: ‘The Strictly tour means more sequins – lots of sequins! I couldn’t think of a better way to end this fantastic experience. I can’t wait to dance in arenas across the country and meet all the fans who have supported my journey.”
The 2024 tour kicks off on January 19 at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham before heading to Utilita Arena Sheffield, Utilita Arena Newcastle, OVO Hydro Glasgow, M&S Bank Arena Liverpool, First Direct Arena Leeds, AO Arena Manchester, Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and finally The O2 in London. culminating on February 11.
The tour jury judges each performance, with the audience voting for the winner.
It comes after Angela broke her silence after being rescued from the dance competition on Sunday night when the contestants were halfway through the competition.
The broadcaster was forced to compete against Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk in the dancing competition, with all four judges choosing to save Angela and her partner Kai Widdrington over the Waterloo Road actor.
Perfect 10? They are joined by Strictly legends Shirley Ballas (C) Anton Du Beke (R) and Craig Revel Horwood (L) who return to their judges’ seats
Leading the charge: It Takes Two’s Janette Manrara will host the glitzy show
The 2024 tour kicks off at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on January 19 before heading to Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and finally The O2 in London, culminating on February 11
But despite the unanimous decision, fans were left furious that the ‘wrong person’ went home after the terrifying confrontation between the two couples.
Appearing on It Takes Two with host Fleur East on Tuesday night, Angela opened up about how it was ‘tough’ competing against Adam in the dance-off.
When Fleur asked her if she was nervous about going up against Adam to fight for a spot in the competition, Andrea explained that the show is getting tougher and no one is safe.
“I think the situation we’re in at the moment is the pool is getting so small now, there’s only eight of us now. If there are only three people in the final, it gets harder every week and someone gets eliminated.
Back to dance again: It comes after Angela broke her silence after being rescued from the dance competition on Sunday night as the contestants reached the halfway point of the competition
End of the road: Adam became the sixth contestant to be eliminated from the show after his rumba to his wedding song failed to earn him a spot on next week’s show
“The hard part about it is that Adam is such a nice guy. We all absolutely adore him, we have all become good friends.
“If you’re the other person in the dance-off, you know you’re going to be competing with someone who’s become a buddy. It’s tough, it’s tough.’
Still, Angela confessed that she also saw the positives in redoing her routine, as she explained, “Oh, it was really disturbing. I was angry at myself because I clearly hadn’t done everything Kai had been pushing into me over the past week.
‘At the same time, the advantage is that we have to dance it again. It was wonderful to be able to do it again.’