Kai Widdrington has been announced as a brand new professional partner on Strictly Come Dancing.
The 25-year-old, who is the Junior World Latin American Champion, was previously a pro dancer on RTÉ’s Dancing With The Stars – and was a firm favourite on the show.
But after the 2021 series of DWTS was cancelled last year due to the pandemic, Kai joined Strictly as a group dancer.
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Kai has since been promoted to a professional partner role, which he described as a “dream come true”.
He said: “Watching Strictly from the very first series as a young boy from Southampton and now 18 years later, to be a professional dancer on the show is the most amazing feeling and the biggest accomplishment of my career.”
“I can’t wait to step onto the Strictly floor and experience the exciting times that lie ahead.”
Kai is one of four new professional dancers joining the popular BBC series.
Meet Cameron, Jowita, Kai and Nikita, our four fabulous new pro dancers for #Strictly 2021!
👉 https://t.co/BBJSnP6t7F pic.twitter.com/KNpLvL5L0p
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) July 19, 2021
The Southhampton native has joined the line-up alongside Nikita Kuzmin, Cameron Lombard and Jowita Przystal.
The pro dancers returning for this year’s series are: Giovanni Pernice, Aljaž Å korjanec, Amy Dowden, Dianne Buswell, Gorka Marquez, Graziano Di Prima, Johannes Radebe, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Luba Mushtuk, Nadiya Bychkova, Nancy Xu, Neil Jones, and Oti Mabuse.
The news comes amid reports RTÉ’s Dancing With The Stars will return early next year, but plans may be derailed by rising Covid cases in Ireland.
