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Strictly Come Dancing has announced the first two stars who’ll be waltzing their way into the 2026 competition: EastEnders actor Lacey Turner and ex Love Island star Dani Dyer.
The BBC show surprised fans with the first cast announcement on Wednesday (10 June), confirming that Turner – best known for her role as Stacey Slater in EastEnders – would be competing on this year’s series.
The news was confirmed on Strictly’s social channels earlier than usual – with the cast typically being revealed later in the summer. Further announcements are due to take place throughout the summer ahead of the show’s launch in September.
Turner said in a statement: “I am so excited to being making my way to the dance floor this year to be a part of Strictly Come Dancing!
Turner is best known for her role as Stacey Slater on ‘EastEnders’ (BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
“I am a huge fan and can’t quite believe I will be taking part and not watching at home this year! I look forward to meeting everyone and learning a new skill!”
A day later, Strictly revealed Love Island winner Dyer as the second contestant to join the 2026 cast – marking her return to the show after dropping out due to injury last year.
“I am so excited to be back in the ballroom this September!” she said in a statement. “I just cannot wait to get my dancing shoes back on and hopefully this time around I can actually make it to week one! I’m just over the moon and cannot wait to find out who else is doing it.”
While best known for her role on EastEnders, Turner has won multiple awards during her time on the show while also appearing in stage productions and TV dramas, including the lead role in BBC series Our Girl.
Turner announced she was taking an indefinite hiatus from EastEnders in May last year, with her character making a dramatic departure for Brazil along with children Arthur and Hope, while her eldest daughter Lily and granddaughter Charli stayed behind in Watford.
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Dani Dyer will be returning to the show after injuring her ankle during last year’s series (BBC)
The hiatus marked Turner’s first break from the series in 21 years, having made her debut on the show in 2004, when she was 16 years old.
Dyer – who is the daughter of Rivals star Danny Dyer – rose to fame on the 2018 series of Love Island, winning the show with her then-boyfriend Jack Fincham.
The 29-year-old went on to land a guest reporter role on The One Show and has competed on Celebrity MasterChef and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, which she won earlier this year. She also appears in Sky reality show The Dyers’ Caravan Park with her famous dad.
Dyer, who is married to West Ham United player Jarrod Bowen and has three kids, was due to compete on Strictly with Nikita Kuzmin last year but was forced to drop out after injuring her ankle. “I had a fall on Friday in rehearsals and landed funny,” she said in September.
“I thought I had rolled my foot but it swelled up badly over the weekend and after an MRI scan yesterday, it turns out I have fractured my ankle,” she said, adding that she was “heartbroken” to be leaving the show. She was replaced by fellow Love Island star Amber Davies, and the series was eventually won by ex footballer Karen Carney and pro Carlos Gu.
The Strictly casting announcements come earlier than expected, as last year’s lineup wasn’t unveiled until August. However, the professional dancers set to participate in the 2026 series have already been revealed – with five former stars leaving the series outright.
Professional dancer Johannes Radebe, meanwhile, has been promoted to one of three new hosts, alongside Emma Willis and Josh Widdicombe.
Turner and Dyer were reported to be on the lineup last week, along with other rumoured contestants including Australian singer and Eurovision star Delta Goodrem, whose appearance is, according to The Daily Mail, “a done deal”. Meanwhile, food critic Tom Parker-Bowles – who was hotly tipped for last year’s series – is believed to be on the producers’ wish list.
The show’s four judges – Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke – will all return for the new iteration of Strictly following the departure of long-time hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
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