Strictly star Angela Rippon’s joyous reaction to arriving at Utilita Arena Birmingham for start of live tour

Angela Rippon has released a joyous video on social media displaying her delight at arriving in Birmingham for the launch of the 2024 Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour.

The TV dancing show star has admitted that she is ‘speechless’ with excitement ahead of the opening night on Friday (January 19).

She posted the video on X yesterday (Tuesday, January 16) saying how shocked she was at the size of Utilita Arena in the city centre - as her music for the Argentinian Tango began playing. She added “I can’t quite believe we’re about to embark on a whole arena tour, it’s just hitting home. Bring it on!”

The dazzling Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour is in Birmingham all weekend. Organisers promise to bring Strictly fans everything that they love about the award-wining series - to “captivate hearts of all ages with Strictly magic and banish any post-Christmas blues.

The show features TV judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood. Professional. The celebrity and professional dancers are:

• Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell
• Annabel Croft and Graziano Di Prima
• Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Jowita Przystal
• Angela Scanlon and Carlus Gu
• Ellei Leach and Vito Coppola
• Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington
• Layton Wiliams and Nikita Kuzmin.

Utilita Arena performances are  as follows - the opening night on Friday at 7.30pm, then shows at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday (January 20) and at 1.30pm and 6.30pm on Sunday (January 21). For more information and to book tickets to go: Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour