Strictly Come Dancing contestants on the dance they are most looking forward to

As Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday, contestants have been discussing which dance they are most looking forward to performing on the show.

The launch programme will see the celebrities paired up with their professional partners, when it airs at 7.20pm.

From the Argentine Tango to the Samba, here are the routines the show’s stars are most excited to perform.

Chris McCausland

“I keep joking that I’m looking forward to mosh pit week. That’s what I grew up with, I grew up with metal and rock, and head banging.

“Let’s see if we can work that in, I’m more apprehensive about the dances where you’re not in contact with your partner, because I don’t really know what that entails, and how I will be able to navigate the stage on my own with any real degree of precision.”

Jamie Borthwick

“Probably the Argentine Tango. It’s dramatic.”

JB Gill

“I’m looking forward to learning the Waltz.

“It’s a classic, isn’t it? And it looks impressive. Whether I’ll be any good at it, I don’t know.

“I think I might find the Latin dances a bit easier since they’re more steppy and have a bit more flair. The Salsa and Cha Cha will be fun too.”

Montell Douglas

“The Samba, I love the Latin vibe – the hip flicks, hair flicks, and sass.

“I think it aligns with my Caribbean background, and the music and rhythm feel very natural to me.

“I’m looking forward to bringing a lot of my personality to the Samba.”

Nick Knowles

“The Waltz is a beautiful thing, and my mother who passed away 30 years ago absolutely loved the Waltz and dancing in general.

“The Argentine Tango as well is just that fiery thing.

“Weirdly, I’m quite a fan of the ballet and musicals, and there’s that fantastic sequence in Moulin Rouge, the Roxanne sequence, where they’re pretty much doing a variation of the Argentine Tango.

“I’ve always thought that was an amazing piece of theatre. To be able to produce something like that would be brilliant.”

Pete Wicks

“You know what? The classy ones. Viennese Waltz.”

Punam Krishan

“I can’t dance at all, so I’m slightly terrified of every single one of the dances.

“However, the one that I’m most looking forward to will be the Salsa, because I think that’s really fun.

“I usually love the whole energy of that. But the Paso Doble is just a really fiery, passionate, dramatic dance.”

Sam Quek

“The Paso Doble. The intense ones.”

Sarah Hadland

“Jive. I like quick, hoppy things, I don’t want to do anything slow which will be problematic.”

Shayne Ward

“So many. I’d love to try something like Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Zorro. Like a Tango or just something where it’s really intense.”

Tasha Ghouri

“The Tango, every time I’ve watched it on TV it looks so passionate and so strong.

“You have to be very in the zone together so I feel like that would be a really cool one to learn.”

Tom Dean

“I quite enjoy the Salsa.”

Toyah Willcox

“The Foxtrot, I’m very tomboyish, I’m very boisterous, and I’ve never felt feminine so I’m looking forward to doing something that makes me feel feminine.”

Wynne Evans

“I’ve sung in a lot of Viennese concerts, especially the famous New Year’s Day ones, so I’m looking forward to the Viennese Waltz.

“Although the more I see of it the more difficult it looks.”

Paul Merson

“Not really. I was brought up in an era where you’d hit the dancefloor at five to 2am just to slow dance before the club closed.”