BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2022: All you need to know about Ellie Simmonds including her dance partner

Paralympian Ellie Simmonds has been annouced as one of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing celebrities - find out what she’s famous for and who she has been partnered with
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Former Team GB Paralympian from Walsall, Ellie Simmonds, was announced as one of this year's Strictly Come Dancing stars in August.

She is set becomes the first ever person with dwarfism to take part in the popular ballroom dance competition.

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Following the announcement, Ellie couldn't contain her excitement, saying: “To be asked to be part of the Strictly family is just so exciting and I cannot wait.

“It’s going to be so much fun. I’m counting down the minutes until it starts; learning to dance, meeting my partner and everyone else involved in the show.”

Who is Strictly contestant Ellie Simmonds ?

Olympian Ellie Simmonds is a multiple gold medal winning swimmer who has competed at the Paralympic Games, World Championships, and European Championships. Now retired from the sport, she has moved into broadcasting.Olympian Ellie Simmonds is a multiple gold medal winning swimmer who has competed at the Paralympic Games, World Championships, and European Championships. Now retired from the sport, she has moved into broadcasting.
Olympian Ellie Simmonds is a multiple gold medal winning swimmer who has competed at the Paralympic Games, World Championships, and European Championships. Now retired from the sport, she has moved into broadcasting.

Ellie Simmonds OBE is famous for winning double gold at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. At the time, Simmonds was just 13 years old and she captured the hearts of the nation.

Off the back of that success, she won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award that year.

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At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she retained her S6 400m freestyle title, along with taking home gold in the S6 200m, silver in the S6 100m and a bronze in the S6 50m.

Her final Paralympics was at Tokyo 2020.

In total, the 27-year-old won eight medals for Team GB across three Paralympic Games, five of which were gold. She also won an 31 medals across the World Championships and European Championships; 21 golds, six silvers, and four bronzes.

Since retiring from swimming, the Water Aid ambassador, has been heavily involved in charity work, focusing on sports, young people, and access to water. She’s also a Girlguiding leader in Manchester.

Who is Ellie Simmonds’ Strictly Come Dancing partner?

Ellie Simonds was the first celebrity to be paired, joining forces with professional Nikita Kuzmin, who said: “For me, the goal for this season is for Ellie to have the best time of her life!”.

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After finding out who she would be sharing the dancefloor with, Ellie said: “I'm so happy that I've got Nikita. He's so lovely and I just cannot wait to start.

“I feel a bit more relaxed, a bit more confident that I've got an amazing pro who's going to make it fun.”

How to watch Ellie Simmonds on Strictly Come Dancing

The start date of Strictly Come Dancing, was initially set for Saturday, September 17, but was postponed due to the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II taking place the following Monday.

The first Strictly live show is now scheduled for Saturday, September 24 at 6.45pm to 9pm.

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Strictly Come Dancing is broadcast live on BBC One every weekend and is also available on catch-up via BBC iPlayer.

Full Strictly Come Dancing 2022 line-up

The full contestant line-up for Strictly Come Dancing 2022 is:

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