Strictly's Joe Sugg assesses 2023 line-up – Here are his predictions

RadioTimes.com caught up with Sugg after he paid a visit to the celebrities as they began training, and he gave an insight into just what to expect from this year's celebs.

Amanda Abbington

Sugg revealed he believes Amanda Abbington will be the dark horse of the series, so will definitely be one to watch on the dance floor.

He told RadioTimes.com: "I feel like Amanda will be very, very good. I'm excited to see her dance. I think she'll surprise a lot of people." When asked if he thought she'd be the dark horse this year, Sugg said he did.

Angela Rippon

Sugg said: "I think she'll be great from looking at the social media posts as well. Her Charleston swivel has already got Craig excited - and Craig doesn't get excited about many Charleston swivels. He is a very, very harsh critic on those.

"I think she could have one of the best feelings in the whole competition."

Layton Williams

Sugg reckons Layton Willians is going to be "incredible". Given his career in musical theatre, the podcast host said: "You can tell he's got musicality through his veins."

He continued: "He's bringing the sass as well, which I think is going to be great. I'm super excited to see him dance, too. I think he's going to be a great dancer.

"But I'm also interested to see how he gets on with [other dances]. He'll be used to dancing through musical theatre. I'd love to see how he gets on with with ballroom and Latin dances. I think he will absolutely smash it."

Krishnan Guru-Murthy

You may recognise Krishnan Gury-Murthy from the Channel 4 newsroom, but he's switching it up and has taken on the Strictly Come Dancing challenge.

"I'm super excited to see him. I think he will be one of those ones where he's a little bit tense to begin with. But I think when he gets to like week two or three, maybe even sooner than that, we're going to see him completely in a new way," Sugg explained.

"There have been certain contestants in the past that start off a little bit like, 'This is very much out of my comfort zone. It's so different to my sort of professionalism, what I've done with my career so far.' It's a very big contrast for Krishnan, but I think he's going to completely surprise us - and I think he's going to do really, really well."

Eddie Kadi

As well thinking Eddie Kadi will go far when it comes to the Latin number, Sugg said he is absolutely "hilarious", and believes he'll be putting smiles on people's faces when they're feeling down.

"He's so funny. I think he's going to be the one that has all the right things to say to the judges' comments as well. I feel like he's the one who is going to be making us laugh reacting to the judges' comments, especially when talking to Claudia and Tess."

Angela Scanlon

Sugg described Angela as a "joy" to be around and believes she will do "really well" in the Strictly Come Dancing competition.

He said: "I think she's already a big part of the show, because she's been on the Friday panels on other series - so it already feels like she's sort of cemented in Strictly already, so I think she's going to be amazing."

Zara McDermott

Sugg said: "I think she's going to be one who will surprise us with how quickly she learns and takes [things] on. I think she is going to be better in the ballroom. That'd be my prediction. I think she'll be a ballroom girl."

Adam Thomas

Similarly to Kadi, Sugg believes Adam Thomas will be providing all the laughs where he can. Describing his laugh as "infectious", Sugg said Thomas will "really bring the mood up".

Nikita Kanda

Sugg hadn't met Nikita at the time of speaking with RadioTimes.com, but did reveal he thought she would be "great" at the Latin dances.

Ellie Leach

Ellie Leach is swapping the cobbles for the dance floor, and Sugg thinks she will be another dark horse this season. He said: "I think she's someone that's going to surprise us. I think she's going to be a good blend of both ballroom and Latin."

Jody Cundy CBE

Sugg described Jody Cundy as an all-round "super lovely guy". He explained: "What I love about Strictly is somebody that is from a completely different area of entertainment [can be part of the show].

"He is so good at what he does in the Paralympics, and obviously winning gold medals - to then go somewhere and be so completely different, it kind of fits, but taking on that challenge, I think he's going to be brilliant."

Bobby Brazier

Sugg said: "I think he's going to be really great. It seems like he is super loved. I think obviously from EastEnders, I think he is going to be winning over a lot of hearts."

Nigel Harman

The podcast host believes Nigel will be "really great" and has "a lot of talent".

Annabel Croft

Sugg said: "Annabel Croft is super lovely. I was chatting to her earlier and she was saying about how her background has always been quite competitive with tennis - whereas, actually, with this experience, she just wants to completely take away that sort of competitive nature and actually go into it just embracing the experience and having fun with it, which is exactly what the show is about.

"I also think that a lot of the time, that's what takes you further into the competition, is when the public can really see that you are really just enjoying the process."

Les Dennis

Sugg grew up watching Les Dennis on TV and said he is simply "wicked". He added: "I had a good chat with him and, once again, I think he's somebody that is going to surprise us. I guarantee you, he'll be entertainment gold."

Strictly Come Dancing starts at 6:35pm on 16th September on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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