Andrew Castle

Swapping the courts for the dance floor, former British number one tennis player Andrew has been a breakfast presenter on GMTV on ITV1 since 2000.

A member of the BBC tennis team, covering Wimbledon and all the major tennis tournaments, Andrew has been lead commentator on all Men's Singles Finals since 2003 working alongside John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, and Tim Henman. He was also a member of the UK's Olympic teams in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992.

Ola Jordan

Polish born, Ola is a Latin American specialist and, with her husband James, is taking part in Strictly for the third time. Ola and James have been dancing together for eight years, and professionally for the last five years.

Christine Bleakley

Christine's career did not begin in front of the camera. In actual fact she trained as a floor manager in television in her native Northern Ireland. She quickly climbed the TV production ladder, emerging as a solo presenter on BBC Northern Ireland for such shows as Skyhigh and First Stop.

Her big break in the UK came when the producer of The One Show called her up and asked if she would step into then presenter Myleene Klass's shoes as she had unexpectedly gone into labour. She's since been made co-presenter with Adrian Chiles.

Matthew Cutler

Matthew is a Latin American dance specialist and has claimed the title of UK Closed Professional Latin Champion in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Last year was Matthew's best, winning the show with Alesha Dixon. "Winning Strictly Come Dancing last year was like a dream come true for me," he chimed, "Alesha was amazing, she had the rare balance of dedication, fun and talent. The whole experience was mad, exciting, exhausting - I loved it!"

Austin Healey

Strictly Come Dancing has had its fair share of colourful contestants and former rugby union ace Austin Healey certainly continues this tradition. While his all-round talent and international and domestic triumphs made him a regular fixture of the sports pages, Austin has also created headlines with his views on team mates, rugby rivals and club managers.

On the pitch he achieved international recognition at an early age - he played for England under 21s in 1992, aged just 19 and was an integral member of the Leicester team that dominated the sport from 1998 to 2002.

Erin Boag

Erin is a strong, vivacious Kiwi, who specialises in ballroom dancing. Her professional dance partner is fellow Strictly dancer Anton Du Beke. She has made it to the final of the show in previous series, with partners Julian Clary and Colin Jackson, last year she danced with Willie Thorne.

Gillian Taylforth

Gillian is the Queen of the Soaps, with more than 20 years starring in Britain's most popular TV shows including playing the role of Kathy Mitchell in EastEnders, as Jackie Pascoe-Webb in ITV1's Footballers' Wives, and more recently as Sgt. Nikki Wright in ITV1's The Bill.

Gillian's main reason for taking part is because she is a huge fan of the show and loves dancing and keeping fit. She also feels that she's been working so hard at acting recently, that it was about time she had a bit of fun.

Anton Du Beke

Anton is a typical English gentleman, but is well known for his naughty sense of humour! Anton specialises in ballroom dancing and dances professionally with Erin Boag. Together, Anton and Erin won the IDTA Classic in England in 2003.

Anton has appeared in Strictly since series one when he came third with Lesley Garrett.

Don Warrington

Don's most famous for playing the role of Philip Smith in the sitcom Rising Damp. He has also appeared in the crime drama C.A.T.S. Eyes, New Street Law, Manchild and Dr Who.

Don has always wanted to learn how to dance, believing it's a wonderful skill to acquire. He'd especially like to learn some of the more 'classic' ballroom dances.

Lilia Kopylova

Lilia is gentle and softly spoken, but below the surface lies a cheeky Russian minx. Her speciality is Latin American and together with her partner and husband Darren Bennett, also appearing in Strictly, they are ranked the number one Latin American couple in Britain.

Lilia won the third series of Strictly with Darren Gough.

Heather Small

Heather Small is a pop singer best known for fronting M People. The 1990s saw the Manchester dance act notch up twenty Top 20 hits, the highest of which, Moving On Up got to No.2 in 1993.

Outside of M People, Heather appeared on the 1997 Children In Need song Perfect Day, alongside such pop legends as David Bowie, Bono, Elton John and Boyzone - to name just four.

Brian Fortuna

Brian started dancing when he was four years old at his Mother's dance studio in New Jersey and has since danced in and hosted hundreds of shows. He was born and raised in Philadelphia and is now based in Los Angeles. Both of his parents have held nationally ranked titles in Ballroom and Latin.

He specialises in wheelchair Ballroom and Latin dancing and has coached and choreographed the award winning salsa team 'Ritmo Latino'. This is Brian's first appearance on Strictly, although he has taken part in the American version on the show, 'Dancing with the Stars'.

Gary Rhodes

As one of Britain's most foremost TV chefs, Gary Rhodes is no stranger to heat (or patterned trousers), which will hopefully stand him in good stead on the Strictly dance floor.

Gary has been a chef for over 30 years, having run several Michelin-star restaurants, made guest appearances on numerous cooking shows, and presented his own shows Rhodes Around Britain and Gary's Perfect Christmas. He was awarded an OBE in 2007.

Karen Hardy

Karen danced into first place with her partner Mark Ramprakash in series four.

Before her retirement from the competitive world of dance in March 1999, Karen's successful partnership with Bryan Watson saw them both crowned as undefeated champions in many national and international competitions.

Jessie Wallace

As EastEnders' own Kat Slater, Jessie Wallace is no stranger to spectacle. Her talent and a run of searing storylines has earned her a string of awards from Best Actress to Sexiest Female.

Since leaving Albert Square in 2005, Jessie has appeared in BBC One's A Class Apart, BBC Four's Miss Marie Lloyd - Queen of The Music Hall and ITV1's Wild At Heart. Jessie has also been keeping up appearances on the stage, making her West End debut in Rent Remixed in 2007.

Darren Bennett

Darren is a down to earth, cheeky guy who loves his Northern roots. Darren and his partner and wife Lilia Kopylova, also appearing in Strictly, are currently ranked the number one British Latin American couple.

Last year, Darren partnered with Letitia Dean and together they reached the quarter final. Although they were both struck down by illness in one particularly hard week, Letitia's confidence and talent grew throughout the competition.

John Sergeant

John Sergeant is one of Britain's most popular and respected broadcasters and authors. His award-winning career as a political journalist has been as lengthy as it has been successful and seen him interview heavyweight luminaries such as Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and John Major.

In recent years John has become as famous for his appearances on comedy shows such as Have I Got News For You, QI, and Room 101.

Kristina Rihanoff

Kristina was born in Siberia and fell in love with music and dance at a young age. When she was six years old, she began to study ballet.

She has been trained in Latin and Standard styles, as well as Rhythm and Theatre Arts. It is the Latin harmonies that truly stir her passions.

Jodie Kidd

Supermodel Jodie Kidd is one of Britain's most successful and loved models. Her international modelling career has seen her grace the covers of Elle Magazine in an astounding five countries, British Vogue, The Face and Tatler.

As well as being a successful cover model she has also taken to the catwalk for the world's greatest designers, including Jasper Conran, Julien McDonald and Chanel amongst many others.

Ian Waite

Ian's speciality is Latin American and he made it to the European Professional Latin Championships finals in 2003. This will be Ian's fifth series of Strictly, after grabbing second place with Denise Lewis in series two and third place with Zoe Ball in series three.

Ian dances professionally with fellow Strictly dancer, Camilla Dallerup.

Mark Foster

Mark Foster is arguably the most successful swimmer Britain has ever produced. Six times a World Champion, his bulging trophy cabinet holds 10 European Champion medals and two Commonwealth Champion medals. He has also broken eight world records in his career.

August 2008 saw Mark compete in his fifth Olympic games - recognising this feat, Mark was voted by his team-mates as the Team GB member who would carry the British flag at the Olympic Opening ceremony.

Hayley Holt

Hailing from Auckland, Hayley joins the Strictly roster for the first time this year. She started ballroom and latin dancing at the age of seven, and her accolades include New Zealand Professional Ballroom Champion.

Hayley thinks it's hard to remember that Ballroom and Latin dancing are such a foreign concept for the celebrities: "I try not to hit them with too much information straight away."

Lisa Snowdon

Television presenter, model, pin-up and all round girl next door, Lisa Snowdon has firmly established herself as more than just a pretty face. As well as being one of the UK's top models, Lisa has also carved out a successful career in television.

Lisa is a host and judge on Living TV's Britain's Next Top Model, and she also starred in this year's Celebrity Apprentice on BBC One for Sports Relief, and presented on BBC Two's Through the Keyhole, alongside Sir David Frost.

Brendan Cole

Brendan Cole returns for his sixth Strictly Come Dancing competition. Brendan moved to London from his native new Zealand when he was 18 to seek a career in dance, financing himself with a number of jobs, including being a warehouseman and a builder.

Brendan specialises in Latin American dancing, during his career he has been both Asian Pacific Latin America Champion and New Zealand Latin American Champion. He won the first series of Strictly with partner Natasha Kaplinsky.

Phil Daniels

Some know Phil Daniels best as Jimmy in the cult film Quadrophenia, the Britpop generation knows him as the voice on Blur's Parklife, and a new breed of EastEnders fans know him simply as Kevin Wicks.

Phil isn't just a multi-talented actor, it turns out he's a sporting all-rounder too. This year he even did the London Marathon. On a slightly more bizarre note, Phil is a trained knife-thrower, and once practised his skills on Jonathan Ross!

Flavia Cacace

Italian-born Flavia first joined Strictly in series four and was last year's runner up with partner Matt De Angelo.

Flavia and her professional partner Vincent Simone have appeared as Argentine Tango specialists on Strictly Dance Fever and Strictly Come Dancing.

Rachel Stevens

As a UK pop star, Rachel formed an integral seventh of successful pop group S Club 7. During their tenure, the pop act racked up 11 Top 40 hits, including chart toppers Reach, Don't Stop Movin' and Have You Ever.

The band called it a day in 2002, and Rachel branched out as a solo singer a year later, scoring several Top 10 hits, before hanging up her sparkly gloves in 2005. Rachel can also count being an FHM magazine favourite and the first woman to appear in a campaign to raise awareness of testicular cancer among her achievements.

Vincent Simone

Italian Vincent Simone comes from a dancing family; both his parents are professional Ballroom and Latin teachers. He joined Strictly in series four, dancing with Louisa Lytton.

Vincent and his partner Flavia, who is also appearing in Strictly, have been dancing together for 11 years. They have won numerous championships including UK Professional Ten Dance, UK Professional Showdance, UK Argentine and World Argentine Tango Show.

Tom Chambers

Tom Chambers sets millions of hearts aflutter on a weekly basis with his portrayal of registrar lady-killer Sam Strachan in BBC One's Holby City. His heartthrob status is only likely to increase once female Strictly viewers get to see him in his sequins!

Tom is a huge fan of dancing, and one of his ambitions is to make and appear in a Singing in the Rain-esque British movie. He thinks there's no better way to prepare for such a goal than to compete on Strictly.

Camilla Dallerup

Camilla is a blonde, Danish beauty with huge charisma who specialises in Latin American dancing. During her career she has been both Asian Pacific Latin American Champion and New Zealand Latin American Champion.

Her professional dance partner is Ian Waite, who also appears in Strictly. Camilla reunited with former partner and fellow Strictly dancer Brendan Cole in 2007 to represent the UK in the first Eurovision Dance Contest.