³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Ali Bastian (Strictly Come Dancing partner is Brian Fortuna)

Soap siren Ali is currently starring in Britain's longest-running police drama The Bill as PC Sally Armstrong, a policewoman passionate about policing, sometimes to the point of recklessness.

Ali previously appeared in Channel 4 teen drama Hollyoaks, playing the character of Becca Dean from 2001 to 2007. Becca's most controversial storyline in Hollyoaks saw her fired from her teaching job and sent to prison after having an affair with one of her students.

A fan of the show, Ali is most looking forward to the frocks: "I have watched Strictly Come Dancing for the last few years and have always wanted to take part. I know it's probably a girly cliché but I just can't wait to wear all the beautiful dresses; it'll be fantastic. The girly fantasy aside, it will of course be great to learn the new dances."

Lynda Bellingham (Strictly Come Dancing partner is Darren Bennett)

Warm, open, quick-witted and fun, Lynda is a critically-acclaimed and much treasured British actress. Her numerous acting credits include appearances in the cult classics Z Cars, The Sweeney and Doctor Who, alongside roles in All Creatures Great And Small, The Bill and Holby City. She is perhaps best known though for her role in the popular, long-running and multi-award winning adverts for Oxo, which made her the most recognised mum in Britain.

Today, Lynda is a firm fixture on daytime TV, appearing as an outspoken panellist on the ITV series, Loose Women.

Having kept her involvement in the show a secret, Lynda is not sure she'll get a positive reaction from her family: "At the moment my sons have no idea that I'm involved. I think they'll be horrified when they discover what's going on! Embarrassing mum and all that. Oh well!"

Natalie Cassidy (Strictly Come Dancing partner is Vincent Simone)

Natalie Cassidy grew up in front of the nation portraying the endearing, trumpet-playing Sonia Fowler in EastEnders. An audience favourite, Natalie won acclaim and awards for portraying meaty and controversial storylines including realising she was pregnant only after going into labour, having her daughter adopted only to later abduct her, marrying twice, becoming a widow and conducting a lesbian affair with one of her fellow nursing students. Life in Walford was never quiet for Sonia!

She has since displayed versatility and achieved great success with theatrical roles alongside Prunella Scales and Diana Rigg, record breaking fitness DVDs, documentary making and character roles on TV.

Ambitious and determined, Natalie says: "I am going to win. I feel like I've won already! I'm going to give this show 250% and am in it to win it!"

Martina Hingis (Strictly Come Dancing partner is Matthew Cutler)

The Wimbledon-winning 'Swiss Miss' Martina Hingis was one of the most electrifying and successful female tennis players of modern times. Named after the tennis legend Martina Navratilova, she was always destined for greatness.

Known for her on-court finesse and off-court frankness, she spent more than 200 weeks as World No. 1 and won a staggering five Grand Slam singles titles. Alongside her Wimbledon triumph, she notched up three Australian wins and one US Open victory. Legions of fans also saw her victorious on the doubles circuit, winning nine Grand Slam women's doubles titles.

Martina thinks her sporting experience will stand her in good-stead for the show: "I should be good with the training as I am used to working very hard for many hours to perfect my sport. Discipline is very important when training for tennis competitions and I think this will be the same when preparing for the Saturday dance."

Jade Johnson (Strictly Come Dancing partner is Ian Waite)

Britain's belle of track and field, Olympic athlete Jade Johnson is a two-time Commonwealth Games and European Championship silver medallist.

Outspoken in nature, dance-mad Jade has always set herself high standards and hopes to proudly fly the flag for Britain when she takes part in London's Olympic Games in 2012. Before this she hopes that her Olympic training schedule will help her to leap ahead of the competition in this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

Jade says: "I once appeared as the mystery guest on A Question Of Sport and had to perform as Beyonce to the song Crazy In Love. It was an absolute nightmare, I told myself after that experience that I would never do anything that involved choreography in the future – I must be mad!"

Zoe Lucker (Strictly Come Dancing partner is James Jordan)

As Footballers' Wives' sultry, scheming and sexy Tanya Turner, glamorous Zoe created TV's hardest anti-heroine and one of the most memorable female characters of the past decade. Her juicy and far-fetched storylines thrilled and appalled millions of viewers in equal measure and included tales of fake tanning, murder, adultery and baby swapping.

A big Strictly aficionado, Zoe is looking forward to the Latin dances and the sparkly costumes.

She admits, though, she is not naturally at ease on the dance floor: "I can confirm that the past six years have not seen me dance once. Even at weddings and social events I'm the one who sticks around on the dinner table whilst all and sundry are up on the dance floor... I just find the whole thing excruciating. I'll have to get over that if I'm to make an impression on the show this year!"

Laila Rouass (Strictly Come Dancing partner is Anton Du Beke)

Actress Laila Rouass first came to the public's attention for portraying the Jimmy Choo-obsessed, serial schemer Amber Gates in the TV drama, Footballers' Wives. She went on to star in Primeval, playing a character far removed from the reprehensible Amber: Sarah Page, a geeky Egyptologist.

Laila's appearance in this year's Strictly sees her reunited with her fellow footballer's wife Zoe Lucker who played her arch-nemesis in the series.

Talking about her chances, Laila says: "I'd absolutely love to win but wouldn't want to say whether or not I can. Come back to me in the first week, I'll know then! Whatever happens and however far I go with this thing, I just want to enjoy the journey."

Jo Wood (Strictly Come Dancing partner is Brendan Cole)

The coolest grandmother in rock and roll, the radiant and effervescent Jo Wood was a major player in the rowdy Rolling Stones circus for three decades and yet survived unscathed to tell the tale. She has transcended her hedonistic past to become a glamorous green queen, with a hugely successful eco-empire to boot with her own organic beauty range.

Jo describes her mum as being Strictly's biggest fan and is most keen not to let her down her when she dances on the show.

Talking about her previous dance experience, Jo remembers: "I did once take part in a South American carnival, probably in Brazil. I was wearing the tiniest outfit and didn't quite know what to do. I asked the girl who was dancing on the next float just what I should do. She said 'Don't think, girl. Just move!', so I did! Off I went, twirling around and around. I did that for an hour or so and was so very tired afterwards. Boiling hot too. I looked like a tomato!"