Strictly Come Dancing has officially confirmed that Olympic champion swimmer Tom Dean will be part of the 2024 lineup.
Fresh from helping to retain Team GB's 4x200m freestyle relay title at the Paris Olympics, Tom will take to the dance floor when the BBC One dancing competition returns this autumn.
Acknowledging that he accidentally let his participation slip during an Olympics interview, Tom said in his statement: "I am taking part in Strictly Come Dancing 2024!
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"You may have heard me accidentally say it poolside first… but now I can officially talk about how excited I am to get stuck into something new, meet some brilliant people and get dancing. Bring it on!"
Tom's swimming record also includes an individual gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the men's 200-metre freestyle event and a team gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
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He became the first British men's swimmer to win two gold medals at the same games in over a century during those Olympics in 2021 – an accomplishment that James Guy and former Strictly contestant Adam Peaty also achieved later that same week.
Tom was also part of the 2023 gold medal-winning team at the World Aquatics Championships.
Related: Strictly star confirmed for celebrity Gladiators
Tom was unveiled alongside EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick today (August 8).
Singer and former Coronation Street actor Shayne Ward was also announced earlier today in addition to Miranda actor Sarah Hadland, with the two confirming their participation during an appearance on Lorraine.
The Strictly 2024 line-up so far also includes TOWIE's Pete Wick, Love Island's Tasha Ghouri, opera singer and Go Compare man Wynne Evans, '80s popstar Toyah Willcox, JLS boyband star JB Gill, comedian Chris McCausland and Morning Live's Dr Punam Krishan.
Strictly Come Dancing will return later this year on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
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