Kimberley Walsh confirmed for Strictly dancefloor
Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh has become the fourth celebrity to be confirmed for this year's Strictly Come Dancing line-up. The 30-year-old singer and actress - who recently stood in for Amanda Holden in the West End production of Shrek the Musical - was revealed to be taking part in the show on Saturday afternoon, following reports last month that she had signed up. And Kimberley also confirmed the news on her own Twitter page, saying "Dancing the cha cha cha," and later adding, "I will try my best to do you proud!" She later added that she hoped to do well, saying, "I'd love to stay to the end - it can't be harder than climbing a mountain!" Kimberley joins a line-up which so far also includes Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer, Daybreak showbiz reporter Richard Arnold and Westlife star Nicky Byrne. Others rumoured to be taking part include Olympians Victoria Pendleton and Louis Smith, actress Denise Van Outen, Emmerdale star Lisa Riley, cricketer Michael Vaughn, model Jerry Hall and veteran TV presenter Johnny Ball. The full line-up will be revealed early next week, with the launch show - which sees the celebrities matched with their professional partners - screened on September 15 at 6.30pm.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.