Former Love Island star Zara McDermott is the latest famous face to be announced for the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 line-up.
The 26-year-old, who has made a series of TV documentaries since appearing on the ITV dating show, was unveiled on BBC Radio 1 on Monday afternoon.
McDermott is the seventh contestant to be confirmed for the upcoming series of the dancing competition after actress Amanda Abbington, Bad Education star Layton Williams, broadcaster Angela Rippon, journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, comedian Eddie Kadi and Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon were previously announced.
We've got a text! @bbcthree documentary maker and former Love Island contestant Zara McDermott is joining the cast of #Strictly 2023
👉 https://t.co/Tc4IgUx9I3 pic.twitter.com/QsryZdYpZ5— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) August 7, 2023
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Appearing on BBC Radio 1, the TV presenter revealed that she has been rewatching previous episodes “analysing everything”.
“I am nervous, excited, every single emotion honestly – I cannot wait,” she added.
Since appearing on Love Island in 2018, McDermott has made documentaries about revenge porn, sexual assault and disordered eating for the BBC.
She noted that Strictly is “such a far cry” from her day job and feels this is the furthest she has ever pushed herself out of her own comfort zone.
“I’ve been making documentaries now for the past three years and it’s such a tiny team and if I say the wrong thing during an interview I can redo it – but this is live, you cannot make a mistake,” she said.
“You’ve got one take and one take only. This is just so far out of my comfort zone.
“I’ve done this throughout my whole 20s, I’ve just constantly thrown myself out of my comfort zone and this is just the pinnacle now.
“I cannot dance. Honestly, I have zero dance experience, to the point where I don’t even dance in a nightclub, I’m that petrified of how my body moves so this is going to be like the ultimate test for me.”
Despite her lack of dance experience, she admitted she is “excited” for the theatrics of the show, adding: “I feel like there’s not many times in life we get to just go on stage and act and be a character.”
McDermott also previously featured in Made In Chelsea alongside her boyfriend Sam Thompson, who is a Hits Radio presenter and a panellist on Love Island’s Aftersun programme.
BBC Radio 1 presenter Jamie Laing, who competed on the 18th series of the show and appeared in Made In Chelsea alongside McDermott, advised her during her reveal interview to “leave all embarrassment or insecurities at the door”.
“Just really go ‘this is what I’m here to do’ and really believe in yourself. It sounds a bit cheesy but really believing in what you can do, that’s the best thing – going for it,” he added.
We can't wait to see Angela Scanlon hit the dance floor! She's our sixth celebrity for #Strictly 2023. https://t.co/cDA0pYywc5 @angelascanlon 💃 pic.twitter.com/rPhu6uENwj
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) August 7, 2023
Earlier on Monday, TV presenter Scanlon was unveiled on BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show where she admitted the prospect of taking to the dancefloor had been “in the ether for a number of years”.
She explained: “Truthfully, we wanted to have another baby, we were trying to have a baby, I was then pregnant, then I had a very small child and now, it just felt right this year.
“I believe in feelings and timing and all of those sorts of things. I’m not particularly fit. I have no idea how my pelvic floor is going to react to that level of jumping.
“I’ve never done any of these dances in my life bar a drunken jive at a family wedding, so it certainly feels like there’s room to learn and really push myself.”
Scanlon said she had spoken to Ted Lasso actress Ellie Taylor, who took part in the show last year, and BBC Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo, who appeared in the 2020 series.
She said: “Ellie has a little girl who’s the same age as my eldest child and so I thought it’d be good to know realistically when you’re in the trenches with children, what’s the reality of this because I think I’ve had a kind of dreamy idea.
“I travel a bit, I do a chat show in Ireland, I travel over and back to that so the idea of being in the same place for an extended period of time feels a bit luxurious.
“But I don’t know if I’m totally deluded about the level of work, but she has kind of said, it’s intense, hardest thing she has ever done, but was so thrilled that she did it.
“And then Clara did it in 2020 and a similar thing, she said it’s insane, she said ‘lean heavily in’ which I intend to, I find it hard to lean out.”
The TV presenter is the only woman in the UK and Ireland to have their own Saturday night chat show with Ask Me Anything on RTE One.
Scanlon, who married businessman Roy Horgan in 2014, with whom she shares two daughters, is also a published author and host of positivity podcast Thanks A Million.
In 2022, she published her part memoir, part self-help book Joyrider, which charts her own journey into the world of self-development – dipping into the anxiety and imposter syndrome she grappled with throughout her teens and 20s, and the bulimia she lived with for 15 years.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to screens this autumn and will be judged by Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse.
Last year, the competition was won by British wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin and professional dancer Jowita Przystal.
