Ted Lasso star Ellie Taylor ninth celebrity contestant for Strictly 2022

Ted Lasso actress Ellie Taylor has been announced as the latest star to sign up for Strictly Come Dancing.

The 38-year-old comedian was unveiled on ITV’s Lorraine on Tuesday and is the ninth celebrity confirmed for the 20th series of the BBC One show.

Speaking about her forthcoming debut on the dancefloor, she said: “Well, cover me in fake tan and roll me in sequins. I’m absolutely over the moon to be a part of Strictly 2022.

“I’ve watched the show for years, so to be able to take to the dancefloor is a dream come true, for both me and mum, who is a Strictly super-fan.

“At the moment I’m focusing on the excitement and glitter, and choosing to ignore the fact that I have the dancing ability of a newly-born giraffe. Bring it on!”

Revealing the news on Lorraine, she said she hopes her experience of performing under pressure will help her but admitted: “When I perform comedy I am very clowny and limby. I’ve never been elegant in my life…

“So I can’t wait to see if I can find that elegance, find that poise to be like a proper grown-up lady.”

Taylor added that she has always wanted to do the show but does not think she can dance – unless she has had a few drinks at a wedding and then she feels like Beyonce.

She said she had attempted to dance when she was young but, due to being lanky, she said other girls would laugh at her, which had put her off it for life.

She said she hopes the show will help her break through this mental barrier, adding: “I would love to find the joy in dance that people have, to see the freedom.”

Taylor began her stand-up career on ITV’s Show Me The Funny before going on to write and perform five live comedy shows.

She has also appeared on Mock The Week, The Mash Report and Live At The Apollo.

In the hit Apple TV series Ted Lasso she plays Flo “Sassy” Collins, who becomes infatuated with Ted.

More recently, she featured as a co-host on Channel 4’s The Great Pottery Throw Down and her debut book, My Child And Other Mistakes, became a Sunday Times bestseller in 2021.

She joins the already announced celebrity line-up of Bros star Matt Goss, Kiss radio host Tyler West, Paralympic swimming gold medallist Ellie Simmonds, comedian and actress Jayde Adams, Coronation Street actors Will Mellor and Kym Marsh, Loose Women star Kaye Adams and Radio 2’s Richie Anderson.

The last series of Strictly was won by Rose Ayling-Ellis with professional partner Giovanni Pernice.

The forthcoming 20th series will see audiences return to the studio, with the launch show scheduled to be recorded on September 7.