Strictly Come Dancing has announced some exciting news! BBC bosses have confirmed that three brand new professional dancers will be joining the show for its upcoming season, including Graziano Di Prima. The 24-year-old is one of the new stars who is replacing former Strictly professional Brendan Cole, who announced his shock departure at the start of the year after 15 series. Graziano comes from Sicily and is an Italian Lation champion, who has represented Belgium at the World Championships.
© Photo: BBCGraziano Di Prima (far right) has joined Strictly Come Dancing
For the past three years, Graziano has toured the world with the dance company Burn The Floor. Speaking about his new venture, the handsome Italian revealed: "This is my dream come true! I still can't believe I will be one of the professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing. I can't wait to give all of myself on the dance floor!" He is currently in a relationship with fellow professional dancer and Burn The Floor co-star Giada Lini.
Who is Luba Mushtuk? Strictly's stunning new professional dancer unveiled
The other professional dancers who will be returning to the Strictly include AJ Pritchard, Aljaž Škorjanec, Amy Dowden, Anton Du Beke, Dianne Buswell, Giovanni Pernice, Gorka Marquez, Janette Manrara, Karen Clifton, Katya Jones, Kevin Clifton, Nadiya Bychkova, Neil Jones, Oti Mabuse and Pasha Kovalev. A spokesperson for Strictly confirmed that Brendan and Chloe Hewitt have left the series. The statement read: "The Strictly team would like to thank both of them for their considerable contribution to the show and wish them all the very best for the future."
On the new line-up, Executive Producer Louise Rainbow said: "This is the biggest line-up of pros that we've ever had on Strictly. We are so lucky to have such an array of talent. A huge thank you goes to Brendan from all of us for 15 amazing series of Strictly. We wish him all the very best with his future projects."
MORE: What you need to know about new Strictly professional Johannes Radebe
