Bobby Brazier and Amanda Abbington beam as Strictly stars meet for first time

Strictly Come Dancing season is upon us, and the celebs and professionals are getting acquainted ahead of the live shows.

Our future Saturday night entertainment all gathered at a dance studio to begin their dancing journeys.

Amanda Abbington looked relaxed and happy as she arrived at the venue, despite some backlash to her signing.

During an Instagram Live on Wednesday, actor Amanda, 51, explained she had joined the juggernaut programme to challenge ‘negative’ perceptions of menopause and menopausal women, who she said become ‘invisible’ to society.

She said: ‘I’m not going to shy away from trying to push myself – we have to try and embrace the menopause and there’s so much negativity around the menopause.

‘It upsets me,’ she concluded.

Eastenders actor Bobby Brazier also looked excited to be there, as he walked with a huge smile on his face.

He may be the youngest contestant at 20, but he’s already had a pretty impressive career and dad Jeff Brazier has every faith he’s going to bop to the top.

Following the news, Jeff, 44, reposted the social media post and wrote: ‘Go on the boy. Proud of you,’ followed by a red heart emoji.

Speaking about how he thinks his son will do on the dance show, he told the Mirror: ‘I have no doubt he’ll impress people with his politeness and his manners.

‘He has a really beautiful nature, he makes you feel good – that’s his gift. I can’t wait to see him share it with everybody else.’

Zara McDermott, who is the first Love Island star to compete on the show, arrived in sporty attire including Gymshark navy shorts.

The 26-year-old is reportedly ‘up for the challenge of being the show’s sexiest star yet.’

To help her achieve her target, they claimed she has briefed the wardrobe team and requested bold and daring outfits.

The insider continued to The Sun: ‘Zara is absolutely stunning and puts in the work at the gym so she’s rightly proud of her body.

‘Plus she’s young, fun and into fashion so she’s told the team she’s up for anything they throw at her – the shorter and skimpier the better, really.’

Layton Williams, 28, has clearly already bonded with couple Kai Widdrington, 27, and Nadiya Bychkova, 33 as the trio looked happy in each other’s company.

It’s been said the Bad Education star has asked bosses if he can become part of the fifth-same-sex coupling on the show, following in the footsteps of pairings like Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer, and Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice, who competed in 2022.

Could Kai and Layton be wowing on the dance floor next month?

We’re expecting big things from Angela Rippon, who already has a big fan in head judge Shirley Ballas.

According to 62-year-old judge Shirley, the news reader’s got a surprising secret weapon in her arsenal that could help her win the favour of the public during the upcoming autumn series.

‘She can do the splits, you know?’, the professional dancer exclusively offered during a chat with Metro.co.uk.

Presenter Angela Rippon, 78, first hosted Come Dancing, the show that provided inspiration to the BBC programme that we know and love today.

Adam Thomas has thrown himself into Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals after opening up about his arthritis diagnosis.

The Waterloo actor recently said that the dancing show couldn’t have come at a better time for him, and he’s clearly already enjoying the process.

The 35-year-old was spotted looking eager outside the dance studio with his fellow contestants including Annabel Croft.

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