EastEnders legend Nigel Harman is the latest BBC star to reportedly sign up for Strictly Come Dancing, over 20 years since he made his debut on the soap.
The 49-year-old actor made his debut on Albert Square in 2003, playing Dennis Rickman, but he departed three years later, leaving viewers heartbroken.
He went on to star in ITV period drama Downton Abbey, as well as Casualty, and is set to return to the BBC later this year as he’s one of the latest famous faces signing up for the hugely popular dancing competition.
TV bosses picked Nigel as he’s the “perfect middle-aged hunk” and believe fans will be over the moon to see him back on their TV screens.
“He is among the first to confirm and he turns 50 this summer so it is a challenge of his own, too,” an insider added to The Mail on Sunday.
His character Dennis was involved in several big storylines during his time on the long-running BBC soap, and his on-again/off-again relationship with Sharon - who was the adopted daughter of his father Den - was one that kept viewers hooked.
He was also involved with Zoe Slater, had an ongoing feud with Sharon’s ex-husband Phil Mitchell, and was mixed up with gangsters after murdering mob boss Jack Dalton.
Nigel’s time on the show came to an end in December 2005, when he was stabbed to death by Danny Moon on the orders of crime lord Johnny Allen, and died in the arms of wife Sharon.
The award-winning actor then briefly appeared in ITV’s Downton Abbey, playing valet Alex Green, and his character was involved in a brutal storyline in 2013.
After maid Anna, played by Joanne Froggatt, sprurned his advances one evening, he brutally raped her in the kitchen, and beat her.
He later denied any involvement, and blamed Anna for being drunk, but after Lady Mary Talbot asked for Alex to be fired, it emerged he died after falling in front of a bus in London.
Earlier this year, he returned to the BBC as he signed up to play charming doctor Max Christie in the long-running medical drama Casualty.
Nigel has also impressed theatregoers with his singing and dancing, as he appeared in the musical I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical back in 2014 as Simon Cowell.
However, the show closed after six weeks due to poor ticket sales.
