Strictly Come Dancing star Nick Knowles has been dealt a crushing blow just hours before the launch of the BBC competition. On Saturday night, viewers will see the celebrities being matched with their dance partners as they take to the dance floor for the first time.
Joining Nick in the star-studded line-up are Chris McCausland, JB Gill, Wynne Evans, Toyah Willcox, Dr. Punam Krishan, Tasha Ghouri, Pete Wicks, Shayne Ward, Sarah Hadland, Jamie Borthwick, Tom Dean MBE, Montell Douglas, Paul Merson and Sam Quek.
The professional dancers also making a return to the show are Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Amy Dowden, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley, Michelle Tsiakkas and Vito Coppola.
And they'll be joined by Aljaž Škorjanec, who will return to the Strictly Come Dancing Ballroom as a Professional Dancer for the brand-new series.
However, while there will be no eliminations this week, the bookmakers have already been coming up with their own theories about who will be given the boot first - and it's not looking good for the DIY SOS star.
Chad Yeomans, spokesperson at Betway, told Express.co.uk: “We can’t split Nick Knowles, Paul Merson and Wynne Evans in the odds and make them all joint favourites at 4/1 to be first out of this year’s Strictly competition.
"All three don't appear to be your stereotypical dancers and may struggle for rhythm and grace and are therefore most likely to be quickstepping off the Strictly stage early on!”
At the other end of the predictions are Sam, Shayne, and Tasha are the least favourite to be eliminated first.
When speaking about why he wanted to take part in the show, Nick explained: "I’m so, so excited to be doing Strictly this year. People may be more used to me getting stuck in on a building site or travelling the world, but dancing live on TV will be a whole new adventure.
"I’ve spent my whole life learning new skills and I’ve never been afraid of a challenge - there’s life in the old dog yet to take on one more big one – being taught how to dance! I’ll give it my everything .... and try not to embarrass my kids of course!”
For the last 24 years, Nick has been the face of the BBC’s BAFTA-winning DIY SOS. Alongside this, the TV star has always been passionate about travelling and most recently, worked with Channel 5 on various travel programmes including Into the Grand Canyon, The Mighty Mississippi, and Nick Knowles in South America.
Over the past two decades, Nick has presented across an extensive list of formats spanning news, factual, travel, and entertainment and has solidified himself as one of the UK’s most familiar faces on television.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One on Saturday.
