Professional dancers from BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing will be touring the UK in a slew of shows slated for next year. Strictly Come Dancing The Professionals UK in 2024 will include the show's current runner-ups, Vito Coppola, Carlos Gu, and Gorka Marquez, and winner Jowita Przystal.
Organisers say this is the first time there will be 12 dancers on the tour. The 2023 tour kicked off earlier this year in Hull's Bonus Arena with showstopping performances that included a Disney tribute and an 80s mega mix. Next year, the 36-date tour will begin at the New Theatre in Oxford on May 1.
Strictly's creative director Jason Gilkison, who has directed the touring show, said: "The 2023 tour was spectacular; we really pushed the boundaries with the choreography and as a result the show was phenomenal! We want to push that even further for 2024, with more dancers than ever before.
"Audiences will be blown away by the skills of our pros, as individuals and as a breath-taking ensemble. The entertainment factor will be off the scale."
Also among the line-up is Australian Open Champion Dianne Buswell, Italian Latin Champion Graziano Di Prima, Strictly pro Karen Hauer, four-time British National Champion Neil Jones and six-time Italian Lat Ballroom Champion Nikita Kuzmin. Strictly 2021 finalist Nancy Xu will also be in the mix, joined by ten-times Cyprus National Dance Champion Michelle Tsiakkas and four-time winner of the Italian Dance Championship Luba Mushtuk.
The professional dancers will travel across the UK to bring England, Scotland and Wales a flavour of ballroom dance. There will be dates in the south of England in Oxford, Plymouth, London, Brighton, Bournemouth and Portsmouth.
Travelling across the midlands and into the north, there will also be dates in Birmingham, Sunderland, Salford, Liverpool, Sheffield, Blackpool, Hull, Nottingham, Wolverhampton and Stockton. In Wales there will be shows in Cardiff, Llandudno and Swansea, and in Scotland the production will be taken to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The tour will include matinee and evening shows and will come to an end on June 1 at the Globe Theatre in Stockton. Tickets go on sale on July 14 at 9am at StrictlyTheProfessionals.com.
