Strictly Come Dancing 2026 contestant opens up on doing the show after stroke and heart operation

Graeme Hall has explained how recent medical issues informed his decision to sign up for Strictly Come Dancing. The so-called Dog Father is one of fifteen famous faces signed up for the new series of the competition, which launches this month.

The 59-year-old said he's "more excited than I've ever been to get stuck into something", but added that he's feeling "apprehensive", too.

"I love dancing," he said. "I did a little dancing as a hobby years ago, but had to stop when I had a stroke. I recovered fully after a heart operation, but I haven’t danced for years.

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"I’m a huge Strictly fan. We always watch in our house and try predicting what the judges (especially Craig) are going to say. I’ll be more anxious than ever to know what he and they think this year!"

The star has danced in local competitions, including Strictly Northampton, but had to step back when he fell ill in 2019.

Now, he's feeling extremely lucky to be competing for the Glitterball Trophy, saying: "Strictly Come Dancing is a life experience that money can’t buy. I think of it this way: This is series 24 and there are 15 celebs. Do the maths: that’s not a lot of people in the whole wide world who have been given this opportunity to learn something so joyous from the best in the business. How lucky am I...?!

"I’m going to enjoy every single minute of it, work hard and hope it lasts for many weeks."

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Elsewhere, Jaime Winstone revealed that her inspiration to say yes to the show actually came from two very unlikely sources: Madonna and Taylor Swift.

"There were some clear signs that this should be my Strictly year," she said. "One of them being Madonna's new album and its track with the lyrics 'everybody get up and dance' ['Danceteria']. I took that as a personal sign as I'm such a huge Madonna fan - there's not a room in my house without a disco ball!"

She added: "Another very clear sign came when I went to my friend Poppy Delevingne's birthday party a few months back, and Taylor Swift was there! I was just dancing as I do, and she came up to me out of nowhere and just said, 'Oh my lord, how do you dance so freely?'

"When someone of her calibre and status says that, it's a very clear sign!"

Strictly Come Dancing returns for its launch show on 19 September on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.

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Shaun is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, with over a decade of experience reporting on all things pop culture. He has written for outlets including Metro, Attitude, Huffington Post, The Mirror, Yahoo!, Pink News and Express Online, specialising in TV, movies, soaps, music and LGBTQ+ issues. He is also a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning scriptwriter, having written episodes of the soap Hollyoaks, the official Steps musical Here & Now and multiple Offie Award-nominated plays. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, and will happily talk at length about Desperate Housewives to anyone who'll listen.