Jaime Winstone was announced on Thursday 23 July as the eighth celebrity to join Strictly Come Dancing 2026, while Shaun Wright-Phillips continues the show’s rollout of names ahead of September. The latest reveal pushes the line-up further into view before the new series begins this autumn.
Winstone’s showgirl turn
Winstone said: “I am so excited to announce that I will be joining the Strictly Come Dancing cast this year.” She added: “I am no stranger to a dance floor, but the ballroom is a whole new world for me.”
She also said: “I love a challenge though, so can’t wait to enter my showgirl era and get super sparkly!!” and finished with: “Let’s get physical – see you on the dance floor!” That leaves the practical read on her casting clear: she arrives with performance experience, but the ballroom asks for a different kind of control, timing and live pressure.
From Babs to EastEnders
Winstone began her acting career in 2004 and has since worked across film, television, modelling and theatre. Her screen credits include Made in Dagenham, Bullet Boy, Tomb Raider and Wild Bill, plus Dead Set, Torville & Dean, Poirot, Mad Dogs, Count Abdulla and Four Lives.
She also received acclaim for playing Barbara Windsor in the biopic Babs, later played Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders in flashback specials, and most recently appeared in EastEnders during the soap’s 40th anniversary celebrations last year. The EastEnders episode won the British Soap Award for Best Single Episode, which makes her one of the more established names in the current line-up rather than a purely reality-led booking.
Eighth name in the roll call
Winstone joins Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best and Dame Sarah Storey in the 2026 line-up. Counting her as the eighth reveal means the series is now more than halfway through the celebrity rollout, and the cast list is already broad enough to suggest production is balancing actors, presenters and other public figures rather than relying on one type of booking.
Strictly Come Dancing 2026 will light up Saturday and Sunday nights this autumn on One and iPlayer, with the brand-new series due to get underway this September. For viewers, the next useful marker is simple: the cast is still expanding, and the summer reveals will keep filling in the remaining places before the new run starts.
