Strictly Coming Dancing 2022: Jayde Adams joins BBC series - who she is and who she played on Good Omens?

Jayde Adams, the award winning Bristol comedian  and star of Amazon Prime series Good Omens, has been announced as the latest contestant for Strictly Come Dancing 2022.

The comedian is currently performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but managed to talk about her participation in the new series.

She said: “Since I watched the first series in 2004, I feel like every step I’ve taken in my career over the last 11 years was to be on Strictly. I cannot begin to express the emotions I am feeling, this means so much to me and my family.”

“I’ve always watched it, apart from a brief hiatus in 2011 as I was relentlessly gigging every weekend (to try and get on Strictly). I’ve been a massive fan of the show for years. I feel like I’m watching myself in a dream and I can’t believe I’ve manifested this. Holding this in has been torture for me!”

Who is Jayde Adams?

Born in Bedminster, Bristol, Jayde Adams started her stand-up career after the death of her sister Jenna, with whom she had danced competitively for 13 years at her aunt’s dance school in Bristol.

As a child, Adams attended several youth theatre groups in Bristol, including Bristol Old Vic Youth Theatre but never formally trained in acting or singing. She moved to Wales in 2004 to study Drama, Theatre and Media at the University of Glamorgan.

Adams won the main award at the 2014 Funny Women Awards and a nominee for Best Newcomer at the 2016 Edinburgh Comedy Awards (the Eddies).

She made her acting debut in Russell Howard’s 2015 comedy-drama A Gert Lush Christmas, finding more television roles as host of Comedy Central UK’s Say Whaaat? Alongside Russel Kane and US prank comedy troupe Impractical Jokers and appearances on Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Perhaps one of her biggest television appearances came starring as Julia Petley alongside Michael Sheen, David Tennent, Jack Whitehall and Miranda Richardson in the Amazon Prime adaptation of Good Omens, written by The Sandman author Neil Gaiman and Discworld creator Terry Pratchett.

An ardent supporter of the LGBT community, having started her live performance career at drag bars such as the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Jayde often cites the LGBT community in London as the reason she found confidence after the death of her sister in 2011

What is Strictly Come Dancing?

Strictly Come Dancing is a celebrity reality show that spun off from long-running ballroom dancing show Come Dancing.

The show has been broadcast by BBC One since 2004, hosted by the late Sir Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly.

From season 8 It Takes Two host Claudia Winkleman joined Tess and Sir Bruce on the show - Sir Bruce Forsyth retired from hosting duties in 2014.

The celebrities and their professional dance partners perform in front of a panel of professional judges, and their scores combined with voting from the viewing public would determine who would make it into the next round, and who ultimately would go home.

2022’s judging panel consists of Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse.

When does Strictly Come Dancing start?

Though no official broadcast date has been set by the BBC, the broadcaster has been advertising the new series as beginning in September 2022.

There are reports that filming is scheduled to begin September 7, which some have speculated would lead to a September 10 broadcast date.

Who else has been confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing?

Seven contestants have now been confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing 2022.

Alongside Jayde Adams is Will Mellor, Kym Marsh, Ellie Simmonds, Kaye Adams, Tyler West and Richie Anderson.

With the show looking to start in September though, expect more and more contestants to be announced in the coming days, and yes - we will keep you updated.

How to watch Strictly Come Dancing?

Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One on Saturday nights, with the results show a little later on in the evening.

AsStrictly is part of BBC One’s primetime schedule on Saturdays, the main show should be screened between 7:00pm - 8:00pm.

There is always the option to catch up on Strictly Come Dancing and its sister-show, It Takes Two, through the BBC iPlayer.

Though you can also catch up on all the highlights, or lowlights, by visiting the official Strictly Come Dancing page on the BBC’s website.

Where can I get tickets for the launch show of Strictly Come Dancing?

Tickets for the Professional Dancers pre-record and the launch night of Strictly Come Dancing 2022 are now closed.

Winners will be allocated through a random draw - so if you managed to apply before last night’s deadline, fingers crossed for you.

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