Strictly professionals gather for first rehearsals of 2018 series
Karen and Kevin Clifton and the class of 2018 are already preparing for the upcoming show
It’s time to re-sew those rhinestones and blow the dust off the glitterball trophy: rehearsals have started for the 2018 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Despite the rumours, no celebs have yet been confirmed on the BBC show, but the Strictly professional dancers have been pictured in the training room together.
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As well as featuring old favourites like Anton Du Beke and Karen Clifton, the sneak peek also includes new professionals Graziano Di Prima (seen at back, far left), Johannes Radebe (back, one left from centre) and Luba Mushtuk (far left).
And, in case you were wondering, the silver fox at the back of the pack is the Strictly choreographer since 2014, Jason Gilkison.
Of course, there are a couple of faces from the class of 2017 missing from this team shot: Chloe Hewitt and Brendan Cole. Hewitt –who first joined the show in 2016 and was never paired with a celeb partner – left the programme after last year’s Strictly Live Tour.
And Brendan? The New Zealand professional, who won the first series of the show with newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, was axed from the 2018 line-up, after BBC bosses decided not to renew his contract.
“The powers that be will have a vision of the show and I’m not part of the vision – you’ve got to accept what decisions are made,” he previously told ITV host Lorraine. “I would have preferred to make the decision myself but maybe I’d never have made it”.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC1 in the autumn
