Who is Shayne Ward? Meet Strictly Come Dancing 2024 contestant and Coronation Street star
Here's everything you need to know about the actor and singer.
Strictly Come Dancing is back and in full swing as the nine remaining celebrities and their pros take to the dance floor once more, in another thrilling episode.
Last Saturday (2nd November), Shayne Ward and his dance partner Nancy Xu brought the energy with a Quick Step to Help! by The Beatles, earning 35 points. They were joint fourth on the leaderboard, alongside Montell and Johannes and this was the duo's highest score so far.
In Week 6, they were in the dreaded dance off but certainly redeemed themselves with the Quickstep. Head judge Shirley commended the pair for "bouncing back well," and "fighting to stay," while Anton said: "Lovely togetherness, this was the best of you, super movement, your best dance."
Will they keep this momentum up as we go into Week 8?
As Shayne fights to stay in the competition, and hopes to climb up the leaderboard, read on for more on Shayne Ward, including what he's said about competing in Strictly Come Dancing 2024.
Who is Shayne Ward?
Age: 39
Job: Singer/actor
Instagram: @shaynetward
Twitter/X: @shaynetward
Shayne Ward rose to fame after he competed on The X Factor in 2005 and won by a big margin, never having fallen into the bottom two during the competition.
His debut single That's My Goal is the fourth fastest-selling single in UK history and it went to number one. Since then, he has released four studio albums and also branched out into acting.
Many will recognise him from his role as Aidan Connor in Coronation Street, which he starred in for three years.
During his stint, he received numerous nominations and awards for his work, including a National Television Award, a TV Choice Award, and a British Soap Award nomination.
More recently, Shayne has starred alongside Catherine Tyldesley in Channel 5's The Good Ship Murder.
Shayne Ward's Strictly journey so far
Scoreboard
Week 1: Samba (4+6+5+6) = 21
Week 2: Tango (7+8+8+8) = 31
Week 3: Viennese Waltz (8+9+8+8) = 33
Week 4: Cha Cha (7+8+7+8) = 30
Week 5: American Smooth (7+8+8+8) = 31
Week 6: Paso Doble (8+8+7+8) = 31
Week 7: Quick Step (8+9+9+9) = 35
What is Shayne Ward dancing to in Week 8 on Strictly?
Shayne and dance partner Nancy will be dancing the Rumba to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper.
What has Shayne Ward said about joining Strictly 2024?
In a statement, Ward said: "I'm buzzing to see all of the sparkles and magic that is Strictly in real life. I'm no stranger to live TV, but dancing Latin and Ballroom in front of millions is a whole new level.
"No promises on my dancing ability, but I will give it my best shot!"
Later, the actor told Evening Standard: "I’m turning 40 [in October] and it would be the most amazing present if I could win.
"It’s 20 years next year [since winning X Factor]. I’m no stranger to a live audience, a judging panel and voting at home, but I think for me, I am engaged to an incredible woman, have two beautiful kids and I want them to see me having fun."
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Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 9th November at 6:35pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what else is on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
