Strictly professionals announced!

Posted on April 23, 2015

The professional line-up for the 2015 series of Strictly Come Dancing has been announced. There are three new dancers:  2012 Italian champion Giovanni Pernice, eight-time South African Latin champion Otlile Mabuse and Russian-born Dancing With The Stars favourite Gleb Savchenko.

The eight men for this year will be Aljaž Škorjanec, Anton Du Beke, Brendan Cole, Gleb and Giovanni, Kevin Clifton, Pasha Kovalev and Tristan MacManus. The eight women will be Aliona Vilani, Janette Manrara, Karen Hauer, Kristina Rihanoff, Natalie Lowe, Ola Jordan, Joanne Clifton and Otlile.

Iveta Lukosiute, Robin Windsor  and Trent Whiddon will not be returning for this year’s series. Louise Rainbow, the show’s executive producer, said: “Iveta Lukosiute has been with us for three series and we would like to thank her for her wonderful contribution to the show and wish her the very best for the future. And huge thanks also to Trent Whiddon who danced so beautifully with Pixie last year.”

Iveta said: “I really enjoyed my experience on Strictly Come Dancing! I loved everything about the show, dancers, judges, BBC, celebrities, fans… all of it was a pleasure to be a part of this wonderful show. I always tried to do my very best to show off my celebrity and add as much as I could to the show. This year I will focus more on my dance school in New York City since I was away so much, however, I will be more than happy to stay involved with the show in the future.”

Trent added: “I was very happy to be part of last season and very thankful for the opportunity”. Robin Windsor, who missed last year’s series due to injury, tweeted “Sadly I will not be returning to @bbcstrictly this year – I have had a fantastic 5 years and wish everyone the best of luck!”

Pictures, top to bottom: Giovanni Pernice (photograph: Alex Calderone), Otlile Mabuse (photograph: Mathis Wienand/Getty Images), Gleb Savchenko (photograph: Brian Kaminski)

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.