Strictly 2025 star drops hint he’ll be out of competition before semi-final

A star of the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing has already dropped a hint that he won’t be lifting the Glitterball Trophy.

Irish broadcaster Ross King, 63, is one of 15 celebrities joining the dancing competition for 2025, with the reigning champion from 2024 comedian Chris McCausland.

Ross, who’s best known to audiences for being a reporter on ITV’s Lorraine, chatted to Ranvir Singh about his chances of making it far in the BBC reality show.

It was while he was chatting to Ranvir that a little hitch in his plans to reign victorious on Strictly Come Dancing was unearthed.

‘I am delighted to say Mr Michael “West End” Harrison has invited me to tread the boards. I will be in Cinderella the pantomime and returning as Buttons at the wonderful Cliff’s Pavilion in Southend,’ he said.

Ross will be starring alongside Rylan Clark in the pantomime self-described as ‘the most magical panto of them all’ between December 13, 2025 and January 4, 2026.

Eagle-eyed Strictly fans will have already noticed the issue Ross might face if he ends up impressing judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke, and Craig Revel Horwood.

The grand final for Strictly Come Dancing 2025 is currently penciled in for December 20, which is a whole week after Ross’ production of Cinderella gets under way.

Ranvir brought the issue to Ross’ attention: ‘I love panto, but how are you going to fit it around Strictly? That’s my question. [Are you] going to be there for any rehearsals?’

Ross laughed and then joked, ‘I am just going to turn up on the night aren’t I?’ but remained determined to give it his best: ‘Bring it on. You never know until you give it a go.’

Of the 15 celebrities – who are still waiting to find out who their professional partners are – Ross was the 13th to be announced, coming in the final wave of names.

Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn was announced as a contestant on the same day as Ross, but withdrew shortly afterwards due to medical issues – he was replaced by Emmerdale star Lewis Cope.

This year, Strictly will surely be aiming to avoid any further scandals involving its stars, which rocked the show’s production over the last two years.

Among other separate eyebrow-raising reports, Angela Scanlon, who competed in 2023 and eventually finished sixth, recently claimed a co-star made a crude comments towards her just seconds before an episode went live on air.

‘Just before we went live, he turned around to me and he said – I was wearing jeans and a blazer, not that that should matter – but he said: “Are you wearing panties underneath those?” And then, boom, we are live on air.’

She added: ‘[There was this] raging internal conflict because I’m a woman who stands up for herself, but I’d have been unprofessional if I had in that situation.’

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One on September 20.

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