Strictly 2025 celebrity who’s a ‘favourite to win’ represented UK as a dancer

A Strictly Come Dancing contestant who has emerged as an early favourite could have an edge over the competition.

The full line-up for the 2025 series of the BBC show is all set after bosses announced the final contestant to replace Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn.

Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope was the final name to be confirmed for the upcoming run, and he was drafted in a last minute replacement after Kristian had to quit on medical grounds.

Already, Lewis bookies Ladbrokes have Lewis as joint favourite to win this year, with he and model Ellie Goldstein both getting odds of 3/1.

However, it’s now emerged the 30-year-old soap star has actually been dancing since he was 10 years old, and even appeared on Sky One show Got To Dance when he was 18.

Back in 2013, Lewis and the group Ruff Diamond – who represented the UK at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships – made it to the live finals of the show, which was hosted by Davina McCall and saw dancers trying to win a £250,000 prize.

The group received high praise at the time, with Diversity star Ashley Banjo – who appeared as a judge on the show alongside Aston Merrygold and Adam Garcia – heaping praise on them.

‘You guys just absolutely smashed your own bar. You have to know that you are brilliant because you are up there with the best that has been on that stage,’ he said.

Lewis quit the group a decade ago, but before that they also appeared on BBC’s Children In Need, where they danced with EastEnders cast members.

However, the Daily Mail reports that Lewis – who went onto study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama – doesn’t have any ballroom or Latin dance experience, which is the focus of Strictly.

Meanwhile, he won’t be the first star to have some experience on the dancefloor, with contestants each year having a range of knowledge.

The soap star, who arrived in Emmerdale in 2022 as Nicky Miligan, has also appeared on BBC daytime soap Doctors and the ITV drama Vera over the years.

He started his career at an early age, appearing as one of the leading roles in Billy Elliot: The Musical on the West End when he was just 11, while he has also appeared in an advert for David Beckham’s fragrance Bold Instinct.

The actor has explained how BBC producers called him up last Monday, while and he got confirmation just hours before the announcement on Thursday.

‘I haven’t really had time to think about it so the excitement can take over,’ Lewis said, explaining how being a latecomer to the action may not be such a bad thing.

‘I want someone that’s going to push me,’ he added of his potential dancing partner, while announcing the news on The One Show.

Announcing his own departure, Kristian said: ‘With a heavy heart, I have to step back from this season of Strictly Come Dancing due to unexpected medical reasons.

‘I was truly looking forward to the journey, and I’m deeply sorry to disappoint anyone who was looking forward to seeing me on the dance floor.’

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