Two Strictly Come Dancing stars have joined the Celebrity Gogglebox cast. In a tweet, the star-studded edition of the legendary Channel 4 show confirmed that former Paralympian Ellie Simmonds and radio personality Richie Anderson will be ditching the glitzy jobs they are famous for to become armchair critics for one night every week.
Ellie and Richie both appeared as contestants in the 2022 edition of the BBC ballroom competition, the same series in which Bedminster comedian Jayde Adams also starred. The pair will be swapping the famous ballroom for a comfy space on the sofa, where they will devour and give their opinions on the week's television.
Sharing a photo of Ellie and Richie gasping on the sofa, Celebrity Gogglebox announced the former Strictly stars' appointment to the show. The hilarious Friday night fixture wrote: "Waltzing their way to Celebrity Gogglebox from the Strictly Ballroom, give a warm welcome to @EllieSimmonds1 and @richie_anderson!"
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"Catch them tomorrow at 9pm, @Channel4," the official Celebrity Gogglebox Twitter account added, teasing Ellie and Richie's arrival.
During their time on Strictly in late 2022, Ellie and Richie struck up a firm friendship. Swimmer Ellie was partnered with Nikita Kuzmin, and the pair were the sixth to be sent home after ending up in the bottom two alongside the ultimately successful Molly Rainford and her professional partner, Carlos Gu.
Meanwhile, Richie danced with fan favourite Giovanni Pernice. The pair were booted from the ballroom after Movie Week.
Sharing his exciting new TV venture, Richie wrote on social media: "Snacks [tick] drinks [tick] comfys on [tick] grab the remote and get us on that sofa. Excited to be putting the telly world to rights with my beautiful friend and Strictly sis @elliesimmonds on this series of Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox.
"Can’t wait for you to join us our beautiful blue sofa in Birmingham. We’ll be making our debut this Friday."
Ellie and Richie are not the only famous faces to make their first appearance of the series tomorrow night (June 30). Author, TV presenter and former MP Gyles Brandreth, who has previously judged the week's television with the likes of Carol Vorderman and Maureen Lipman, will be joined by Countdown star Susie Dent, with the famous friends co-hosting popular comedy podcast Something Rhymes with Purple.
Celebrity Gogglebox returns on Friday, June 30 at 9pm on Channel 4.
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