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Strictly Come Dancing Adds Fleur East To 2022 Line-Up

Fleur East (Photo: Karwai Tang via Getty Images)
Fleur East (Photo: Karwai Tang via Getty Images)

Fleur East (Photo: Karwai Tang via Getty Images)

Pop singer and presenter Fleur East has become the twelfth celebrity confirmed for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Fleur initially rose to fame as a contestant on The X Factor, at a time when the show was still considered a TV rival to Strictly.

Announcing her latest TV venture on Thursday, she said: “I’m equally nervous and thrilled to be part of this year’s Strictly line up. I’m excited to learn new skills and I want to soak up every moment of this magical experience.”

Fleur added: “It’s such an honour to be on the show after years of watching it with my father who loved it so much.

“Unfortunately my dad is no longer with us but I know he will be watching over the ballroom in spirit. I’m doing this to make him and my family proud and can’t wait to get my dancing shoes on!”

Fleur actually competed on X Factor twice, first as a member of the girl group Addictiv Ladies and later as a solo artist.

After making a splash with her live show offerings, most notably a rendition of Uptown Funk that is often hailed as one of X Factor’s best ever performances, Fleur finished in second place in 2014, behind eventual winner Ben Haenow.

She went on to sign with Simon Cowell’s Syco label, releasing the hit single Sax.

More recently, having parted ways with Syco, Fleur competed on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!, after which she landed a presenting role on Hits Radio Breakfast.

Fleur performing Uptown Funk on the X Factor stage (Photo: Dymond/Syco/Thames/Corbis)
Fleur performing Uptown Funk on the X Factor stage (Photo: Dymond/Syco/Thames/Corbis)

Fleur performing Uptown Funk on the X Factor stage (Photo: Dymond/Syco/Thames/Corbis)

A total of 12 celebrity contestants have now been announced for the new series of Strictly, beginning with Will Mellor and Kym Marsh early last week.

Since then, Radio 2 presenter Richie Anderson, Loose Women panellist Kaye Adams, stand-up performer Jayde Adams and Paralympic gold medalist Ellie Simmonds have also been revealed.

Also on the list of stars learning to dance this year are football legend Tony Adams, CBBC star Molly Rainford, comedian Ellie Taylor, 80s chart-topper Matt Goss and broadcaster Tyler West, with more names to be unveiled in the coming days.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.

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