Strictly Come Dancing: Who are new dancers Nadiya Bychkova, Dianne Buswell & Amy Dowden?
STRICTLY COME DANCING returns tomorrow night, with three new professional dancers making their debut alongside this year’s celebrity line-up – Nadiya Bychkova, Dianne Buswell and Amy Dowden.
Reverend Richard Coles practises for Strictly in 2017
Strictly Come Dancing returns this weekend with 15 new celebrities, three new professionals and one new head judge ready to take to the ballroom floor for the first time.
Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova and Amy Dowden replace outgoing dancers Natalie Lowe, Joanne Clifton and Oksana Platero for the 15th series of the primetime juggernaut.
Despite its advancing years Strictly shows no signs of slowing down, with its launch show beating long-standing rival The X Factor by 3 million viewers.
Ahead of Saturday's first live show, here is a look at the new professionals.
Nadiya Bychkova
Nadiya, from Ukraine, is a two-time World Champion and European Champion in ballroom and Latin ‘10’ Dance.
She is a multiple-time Slovenian ballroom and Latin Champion and has taken part in the Bosnian version of Strictly.
Nadiya is already friends with fellow pro Aljaž Skorjanec, who trained at the same dance school in Slovenia as her. “It’s really nice to come here and see a familiar face,” she said.
Away from the dancefloor, Nadiya also works as a model and once posed for Playboy.
She has been partnered with Davood Ghadami.
Strictly Come Dancing: Nadiya Bychkova is one of three new professional dancers
Strictly Come Dancing: Dianne Buswell is a four-time Amateur Australian Open finalist
Dianne Buswell
Dianne is an Australian Open Champion and four-time Amateur Australian Open Finalist.
She is no stranger to Strictly, having appeared in the Australian version – Dancing With The Stars – in 2015.
The redhead has also been part of the Burn The Floor production on Broadway since 2011.
Ahead of the first live show, Dianne said: “What an honour it is to be a part of Strictly Come Dancing. Words can’t describe how excited I am to take on this amazing challenge and give it my everything.”
Dianne will take to the ballroom floor with Reverend Richard Coles.
Strictly Come Dancing: Nadiya Bychkova, Dianne Buswell and Amy Dowden.
Strictly Come Dancing: Amy Dowden is the current British National Champion
Amy Dowden
Amy is from Caerphilly, South Wales and began dancing at the age of eight.
She is the current British National Champion and one of the highest-ranking Ballroom and Latin American professional dancers in the UK.
Amy is also a four-time British National Finalist and in 2015, she reached the semi-final of the World Championship.
She said: “Off the dancefloor, I may come across as cute, innocent and sweet, but as soon as I put my dance shoes on, I am passionate, determined and competitive. Many of my students would say I am very strict and a bit of a perfectionist.”
For her first-ever Strictly, Amy has been partnered with Brian Conley.
Strictly Come Dancing 2017 kicks off tomorrow (Saturday, September 23) at 6.25pm on BBC One.