UK flies fighter jets over Poland in warning shot to Putin

The UK has sent fighter jets to Poland in a clear warning shot to Vladimir Putin that Western nations will not tolerate Russia’s repeated incursions into Nato territory.

The RAF Typhoons took part in a Nato operation to bolster European security after Russia provoked global outrage when its jets flew into Estonian airspace on Friday.

Defence secretary John Healey said the use of British fighter planes sent “a clear signal: Nato airspace will be defended”.

And David Lammy warned Putin Britain can “of course” face his military down. “Combined with 27 countries, of course, we can face down Putin, he knows that, and I want to reassure you that whilst we take this seriously, he understands that he will be up against a very, very serious effort,” the deputy prime minister said.

It comes after Polish fighter jets were scrambled on Friday night to protect the country’s airspace as Russia unleashed a massive aerial attack on sites across Ukraine.

Polish aircraft were at the “highest state of readiness”, the country’s operational command said on X (Twitter), as more than 600 drones and missiles were fired at Ukraine overnight in a bombardment which killed at least three and injured dozens.

European countries are on high alert following a string of Russian breaches into Nato territory, following drone incursions into Poland and Romania, as Putin’s forces continue to provoke the alliance’s defences.

The latest breach saw three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets enter Estonian territory where they remained without permission for 12 minutes, the Estonian foreign ministry said on Friday.

The incursion led US president Donald Trump to warn of “big trouble” as he grows increasingly frustrated by Russia’s provocations. He told reporters: “I don’t love it. I don’t like when that happens. Could be big trouble.”

The UK’s involvement in the Nato air defence mission over Poland saw two British fighter jets take off from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on Friday night, supported by an RAF Voyager aircraft, to patrol Polish skies against threats from Russia, including drones. They returned to the UK early on Saturday morning.

Mr Healy said he was proud of the British pilots and air crew who took part in this successful operation to “defend our allies from reckless Russian aggression”.

“This weekend, as we honour the heroism of the Battle of Britain generation, it is especially poignant that RAF pilots and crew are once again standing shoulder to shoulder with Poland in defence of our shared security – making us secure at home and strong abroad,” he added.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth, said the UK forces remained “agile, integrated, and ready” in the face of the Russian threat.

“Our partnership with Nato has never been stronger. This sortie marks the RAF’s first operational mission on Eastern Sentry, reinforcing the UK’s steadfast commitment to Nato and its allies,” he added.

The announcement of the mission comes hours after it emerged the UK could use frozen Russian assets to bolster Ukraine’s war effort.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said it was “right to explore all options to support Ukraine” at a meeting with her European counterparts in Copenhagen on Saturday.

It follows comments from European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last week, who suggested providing a loan to Ukraine backed by the “cash balances” associated with Russian assets frozen by the EU.

The move would allow the EU to use Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s fight against Moscow’s invasion without immediately confiscating them, amid fears this could breach international law.

Announcing the UK’s plans, Ms Reeves said: “While Russia has no respect for international law, the UK does. We will only consider options in line with international law and that are economically and financially responsible.”

In March, the UK announced it would provide a £2.26bn loan to Ukraine based on profits generated by frozen Russian assets.

But the government has been urged to go further. On Saturday, former defence secretary Ben Wallace called on the government to use frozen Russian assets to fund the war effort in Ukraine against Moscow’s invasion as he urged the UK to “double down” and stretch Russian president Vladimir Putin’s forces.

He said the move would force Russia to divert assets to Ukraine, making it harder for Putin to make incursions into other countries such as Estonia, in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The Liberal Democrats have called on ministers to seize Russian assets outright and use them to support Ukraine.

The Treasury said a “reparations loan” could see billions of pounds made available for Ukraine without touching the underlying assets.

Ms Reeves said: “This is Russia’s war, and Russia should pay. It is right to explore all options to support Ukraine. Defending against Russian aggression is vital not just to the long-term security and prosperity of Ukraine, but to the UK and the whole of Europe.

“Since the outbreak of war, the UK has committed up to £21.8bn for Ukraine, just less than the £25bn of Russian assets the government has frozen.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the latest Russian air attack that he said saw 580 drones and 40 missiles target infrastructure, civilian manufacturing companies and residential areas.

“All night, Ukraine was under a massive attack by Russia,” Mr Zelensky said in a statement on the messaging app Telegram. “Every such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to terrorise civilians and destroy our infrastructure.”

Russia denies targeting civilians.

Veteran broadcaster John Stapleton dies aged 79

Tributes have been paid to veteran broadcaster John Stapleton, who has died in hospital at the age of 79.

Confirming his death on Sunday morning, his agent Jackie Gill said Mr Stapleton had Parkinson’s disease, which was complicated by pneumonia.

“His son Nick and daughter-in-law Lisa have been constantly at his side and John died peacefully in hospital this morning,” she said in a statement.

Mr Stapleton was best known for his work as a presenter and reporter on ITV breakfast television, as well as hosting Watchdog and Nationwide on the BBC.

The broadcaster, who is also known for presenting programmes including Newsnight, Panorama and GMTV’s News Hour, revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s in October 2024.

Parkinson’s is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Often, the disease can become more severe over time.

Speaking to The Mirror, about his diagnosis, Mr Stapleton said: “You can’t escape these things as you grow older, these kinds of developments are sort of inevitable.

“You learn to live with it, get on with it and try to be as positive as you can.”

Tributes have poured in for the veteran journalist, including from GB News’ Head of Programming Ben Briscoe, who described him as “one of the kindest people in TV News” and said him reuniting with his former co-host Penny Smith on the GB News sofa recently was a “magical moment”.

Erron Gordon, the head of the BBC’s Media Operations department, who used to direct Mr Stapleton on ITV’s breakfast TV shows, said he was “one of the very best presenters” he had ever worked with and “truly one of the good guys”.

“His versatility was unmatched, and he had an innate ability to navigate any challenge from breaking news to technical hiccups, whether in the studio or on location, he was brilliant.

“Each Christmas, he and [co-host] Penny Smith would bring the crew presents, showing just how much he cared about the team,” he added.

Veteran Sky News presenter Mark Austin said of his death: “Incredibly sad. A good man and top presenter who could turn his hand to anything.”

And broadcaster and political commentator David Wooding described him as a “superb professional and a great guy”, adding that it was “always a joy to see him”.

Mr Stapleton was born on 24 February 1946 in Oldham, Lancashire, the son of a primary school teacher and the secretary of a local co-operative.

After leaving school in Manchester, he started working as a trainee reporter at the defunct Eccles and Patricroft Journal, when just 17 years old.

After working for a series of local newspapers, Mr Stapleton became a staff reporter on the Daily Sketch on Fleet Street, before taking on his first job as a researcher and script writer on This Is Your Life.

He joined BBC Nationwide in 1975 as a reporter, before making his name as one of its main presenters from 1977 until 1980.

Mr Stapleton worked as a correspondent for BBC’s Panorama and Newsnight programmes, reporting from areas such as the Middle East and El Salvador, before working as Newsnight’s Argentina correspondent during the Falklands War.

Various stints at different shows with ITV and BBC followed for the veteran broadcaster. He was known as a versatile journalist who went from interviewing high-profile politicians and global figures to reporting from the ground during global incidents, such as the refugee crisis resulting from the Kosovo war.

As a presenter for the ITV breakfast programme GMTV, Mr Stapleton anchored four US elections, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, Pope John Paul II’s funeral, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

He was awarded the Royal Television Society’s News Presenter of the Year owing to his work covering the 2003 war in Iraq and interviews with then-prime minister Tony Blair.

Ed Davey ‘not afraid of Farage’ and claims he can stop Reform’s march to power

Ed Davey has said he is the political leader who can halt Nigel Farage’s path to power, as he accused the Reform UK leader of being a “plastic patriot”.

The Lib Dem leader insisted he was not afraid of the Reform UK frontman, whose party is ahead of both Labour and the Tories in the polls.

His bold claim came as Techne UK’s latest poll revealed that 1 in 8 of those who voted Lib Dem at last year’s election have already switched to Reform.

But although Mr Farage’s party has rocked Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch and left the Conservatives and Labour on the ropes, the Lib Dems are slowly gaining in the polls.

As the Lib Dems handed out toys at their annual conference in Bournemouth, casting Mr Farage as a “plastic patriot” in Lego form, Mr Davey said that his party appealed to many people dissatisfied with how the country is being run but did not want to support the ex-Ukip boss.

The Lib Dems offered them an alternative to backing Reform UK in a bid to send a message to Downing Street, he said.

In an interview with the Independent, Sir Ed said: “So I think our style of community politics, our message on health and care, cost of living, and pride in your local community, actually appeals to some people who would otherwise vote Reform. And the more we get that out… I think it will peel (voters) off and stop Reform.

“I think we are part of the answer to stopping Reform and, unlike the other two parties who seem to want to mimic them, we’re going to stop Reform, but stay true to our values.”

He insisted he was not afraid of the threat from Mr Farage. “No, not for the Liberal Democrats… I think we can hoover up some of his vote… People are fed up. Because their real incomes haven’t been going up, because public services aren’t any good. Yes, they thought the Tories let them down and got rid of the Tories . Now Labour is not doing a very good job and they’re fed up. “

He said Reform was offering a change, but not one that was “true to British values”.

“I think people want a decent, caring country that provides good public services, but they want to know if there is another party they can believe in that can deliver that change –and that’s us.“

But he conceded that “some of the people who follow Farage and Tommy Robinson, I don’t think we’ll be able to get to that sort of vote”.

He also suggested that the home secretary should look at whether to ban Elon Musk from the UK in the wake of last week’s row over his comments at a rally in London led by far-right activist Mr Robinson, which attracted tens of thousands of people, where he issued a chilling “fight back or you die” message.

He said there was “ a very, very strong case” for Shabana Mahmood to look at the issue.

The home secretary can exclude those expressing views on a number of grounds, including those which foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK.

The power can be used whether or not the person’s nationality would normally allow them to travel to the UK visa-free, and 369 people were excluded in the 12 years to 2022.

Sir Ed also said that as a patriot himself, he would have attended the state banquet with US President Donald Trump that he boycotted last week, if he were prime minister.

He said: “The truth is, if you’re the PM, of course, you’ve got to meet other heads of state”.

He said it was important to “engage with people you don’t agree with. That’s how life works, and America has been a long-standing ally”.

He said he had intended to go to the banquet, mostly out of respect for the King, and “I really wrestled with the decision not to go”.

But he said he said “it was Gaza that did it for me, and Trump’s ability to call Netanyahu to get him to stop the fighting and get the aid in”.

“If you were the prime minister, of course, you have to engage with them. I’m not the prime minister, I was a leader of an opposition party, and I had the freedom, if you like, to do what I did, and I’m pleased I did what I did.”

‘I bought my home for £1.2m – but HS2 came and its value plummeted’

A mother-of-three says she could be forced to sell her home at a cut-price because of the “devastating” impact of an axed HS2 line on her village.

Steph Wilkin and her ex-husband splashed out £1.175m on the Grade II-listed three-bedroom house in the leafy parish of Whitmore in Staffordshire in 2009, following success for the pair in running a local electronics assembly company.

But despite her love for the “wonderful home”, which sat on nine acres of land and featured two large lakes, the 56-year-old signed a financial settlement for Lake House to be sold, and for her to receive 62 per cent of the proceeds, after the couple divorced in 2020.

Having got the house valued at £1.2m the year before, Ms Wilkin, a topographical surveyor, hoped to take around £600,000 from the sale, which would have paid for a new home in West Sussex, where she wants to work part-time while being close to her grandson.

Money left over, she said, would have gone to a private pension. Meanwhile, the house she bought after moving out of Lake House would be rented out to help with her monthly income.

However, Ms Wilkin said her future plans were thrown into the air by the impact of the expected arrival of the second leg of the high-speed HS2 line through a tunnel west of her village, which triggered panic among local residents unable to sell up.

The pair, however, were able to secure an agreement with HS2, for it to buy their home on behalf of the Department for Transport – but when the offer came in for £757,500, Ms Wilkin saw her expected proceeds from the sale fall to around £284,000.

Now, after delaying the decision to sell, she faces a divorce hearing in November, where she could be forced to sell the home, she said.

“If the judge forces me to sell to HS2 I come away with my £280k-odd and I can’t do absolutely anything about it,” she told The Independent.

“It’s devastating to think how much we paid for it, then renovated the property, making it a wonderful house, before HS2 was planned, and the value was wiped away, along with future plans I had with the money.

“Whitmore was the ‘Beverley Hills of Stoke-on-Trent’, but since the line was proposed, no one can sell, no one wants to move here, it’s dramatically impacted the housing market, and the local community.

“Even now, two years after the line was cancelled [in October 2023], it’s a ghost town, a shadow of the village it once was.”

HS2 arrived at the final offer, which was made after three valuations, ranging wildly from £1.4m to £615,000. The amount was the average of the two closest valuations – and there was no opportunity to appeal.

A spokesperson for HS2 said the valuations were based on the property as if there were no plans for the high-speed line, and are reviewed by at least one Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors-registered surveyor.

The alternative for Ms Wilkin and her ex-husband is to sell on the open market.

But Ms Wilkin said: “It’s a beautiful area and the HS2 line is not going through here anymore, but no one wants to come here because of the stories and the security coming round to patrol empty homes already bought up.

“It just shows the devastating impact of the line on a once-beautiful village, which will never even be built.”

It is a similar situation in the nearby hamlet of Whitmore Heath, according to those who lived there. Some 35 of the 50 homes in the village were bought by HS2, many of them lavish mansions with large gardens.

“Whitmore Heath was the jewel of the area, but the community has been fragmented,” Ashfield District councillor Paul Northcott said previously. “It’s been ripped apart by people coming in and going, people renting short-term.”

Earlier this year, The Independent reported on one man in the hamlet who sold his home to HS2, only to later discover it had been turned into a cannabis factory.

Commenting on Ms Wilkin’s case, a spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “HS2 Ltd has a responsibility to establish a price that is fair both for homeowners and the taxpayer with a range of properties schemes available to support people living near the railway.

“Having reviewed the case, we are confident that the offer made for Lake House represents a fair estimate of what the property would have been worth today, had HS2 not been planned.”

Elderly British couple detained by Taliban ‘thought they would be executed’

An elderly British couple who were detained by the Taliban for eight months have said they feared they would be executed in the first interview since their release.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were arrested and detained without charge for nearly eight months in Afghanistan while travelling to their home in Bamyan province. They arrived back in the UK on Friday after they were freed.

The couple, who had lived in Afghanistan for almost two decades while running an education company, were held in a maximum security prison and endured long periods of separation.

“We had begun to think that we would never be released, or that we were even being held until we were executed,” Mr Reynolds told The Sunday Times.

The couple revealed that they were held in solitary confinement together for the last few months, so were unaware that they were being released when they were taken to Kabul airport.

“The last few months we have been together in solitary confinement, cut off from all awareness of what was going on in the world,” he said.

Mrs Reynolds said they had been told “nothing” about their release.

“Even when we were taken to Kabul airport we thought maybe we were just flying somewhere for medical treatment.”

Instead they were put on a Qatari aircraft and flown to Doha. Mr Reynolds said that the worst moment of the ordeal came when the couple faced a period of separation while detailed, meaning they spent their 55th anniversary apart.

“Being led away and separated as a couple after 55 years of marriage to my best friend was the hardest thing. I pleaded to at least let me see her on our 55th wedding anniversary but they said no”, he said.

Their son, Jonathan Reynolds, said the family was “thrilled” and “overwhelmed with thankfulness” that the couple had been released and returned to the UK.

In a statement on Friday, the family said: “We are overwhelmed with gratitude and relief to share that our parents, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, have been released after seven months and 21 days in detention by the Taliban.

“This is a moment of immense joy for our family, and we are deeply thankful to everyone who played a role in securing their release.”

The family said they wanted to extend their appreciation to the emir of Qatar for his leadership and compassion, and also thanked Mohammed Al Khulaifi and Mirdef Al Qashouti for their “tireless diplomatic efforts and unwavering support throughout this ordeal”.

The statement said: “Their dedication and humanity have made an unforgettable impact on our lives.

“We are also extremely grateful to the UK Government for its commitment and support to our family, including ensuring that our parents had access to essential medication during their detention and upon release.

“We further thank the US government for its support to the US members of our family, and to the UN special rapporteurs for their intervention and support.

“This experience has reminded us of the power of diplomacy, empathy, and international cooperation.

“While the road to recovery will be long as our parents regain their health and spend time with their family, today is a day of tremendous joy and relief.

“We are forever grateful to the Qataris for standing with us during this difficult time.

“Thank you for giving us our family back.”

There were emotional scenes as the couple were reunited with their daughter Sarah Entwistle, when the couple landed in Doha, Qatar, on Friday afternoon.

Speaking to Sky News from Kabul Airport on Friday, Mrs Reynolds said when asked if the couple would return to Afghanistan again in the future: “If we can, we are Afghan citizens.”

The Taliban have never explained what prompted the couple’s detention.

A spokesman at the Taliban government’s foreign ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said on X the couple had “violated Afghan law” and were released from prison on Friday after a court hearing.

He did not say what law the couple were accused of breaking.

What to expect from Heathrow’s ‘Redefine Your Beauty’ experiences

As someone who’s regularly jetting off to different corners of the globe for work, to me the airport has come to represent just a means to an end: Pret, security queue, working charging socket. After years of this, I’ve pretty much got my routine on lockdown, which usually involves some purely functional eating, a quick pint in Spoons, and a last-minute visit to Duty Free to buy a moisturiser because I forgot mine, again.

So, when I heard Heathrow was rolling out a new experiential beauty and wellness campaign across all four terminals, with pop-up beauty bars, luxury treatments and skincare tech that tells you things about your face you didn’t even know were possible, I was curious. Airports are not where I usually go to feel (or look) my best. But a quick massage and some free beauty advice before a flight? Oh, go on then.

I’m due to fly out of Terminal 5 soon, which means I’ll get to check out the Personal Shopper Lounge and see what the hype is about. There’s a full-on treatment menu, the kind you’d expect at a boutique spa, except here, it’s been designed for travellers on the move, like me, with treatments lasting between 10 and 20 minutes. How often can you say an airport is offering La Mer facials, Elemis LED masks, Molton Brown hand massages and Estée Lauder’s ‘Age Reversal Sculpt Ritual’ facial? From neck and shoulder massages to cryotherapy and ultrasonic peels, it’s the kind of thing you’d usually have to schedule weeks in advance, and here it is, just a stone’s throw from your departure gate. I might even consider swapping my pre-flight pint for something a little more restorative.

Outside the lounge, the terminals are set to be abuzz with pop-up beauty bars from brands like Charlotte Tilbury, MAC, Molton Brown and Penhaligon’s – offering live demos, free mini-treatments and genuinely helpful skincare advice. There’s even a skin analysis station (powered by tech that looks like it comes from the year 3000), and perfume engraving on the spot. Fancy.

I wasn’t planning to splurge £200 on more beauty products,​​ but it’s hard to resist when there’s a free luxury beauty bag up for grabs when you do, packed with products from Elizabeth Arden, Versace, Benefit, Amouage and Elemis, to name a few. The offer’s available in all the main World Duty Free stores, and if you’re a Heathrow Rewards member, you can earn double points on qualifying beauty buys (up to 1,000 points), which definitely makes me feel a little better about splashing the cash.

Even the food spots are jumping on board with the wellness vibes. I usually go for a failsafe Joe & The Juice Tunacado, but I’ve spotted a Clean Green smoothie at Jones the Grocer and a Firecracker Chicken Salad from Leon. I might even grab a poké bowl from YO! Sushi for the flight, although word on the street is the plane meal is steamed seabream with romesco.

I never thought I’d describe an airport experience as relaxing and rejuvenating, but this campaign is definitely out to challenge me. Between the luxurious treatments and nutritious food choices, Heathrow has created the first airport rendezvous that won’t leave you feeling like you need a holiday from your holiday.

If you find yourself passing through Heathrow between now and early October, don’t just bolt straight to your gate. Give yourself an extra 30 minutes, book yourself in for a quick massage or facial, and visit World Duty Free to grab that beauty bag full of goodies to make your holiday that little bit more special.

Find out more about Heathrow’s Redefine Your Beauty campaign, including treatment menus, participating brands and exclusive offers here

F1 Azerbaijan GP LIVE: Verstappen on pole with Norris down the order

Championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out of qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Max Verstappen claimed pole in a chaotic session.

In an extraordinary qualifying which featured a record total of six red flags and lasted almost two hours, Verstappen clinched a sixth pole of the season by delivering a flawless lap at the end.

Piastri, who leads McLaren team-mate Lando Norris by 31 points with eight rounds remaining, smashed into the wall in the final stages of Q3 and will start lower than fourth for the first time this season.

That opened the door to Norris but he too clipped the wall on his final run, which was only good enough to put him seventh on the grid – two places above his team-mate. Williams’ Carlos Sainz capitalised on the chaos to qualify second, ahead of Liam Lawson and Kimi Antonelli.

Follow the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with The Independent:

Strictly 2025 launch reveals celebrity and dancer pairings

Strictly Come Dancing is officially back, which means we’re shimmying our way into 13 brilliant weeks of jazz hands, flamboyant costumes and electrifying routines.

The reality competition series returned to our screens on 20 September, where the celebrities were introduced to their professional dance partners for the first time – including the two new additions to the pro cast, American ballroom star Alexis Warr and Australian dancer Julian Caillon.

But who’s paired up this year? Meet your Strictly Come Dancing couples below…

Alex Kingston, known for her roles in the US medical drama ER and in sci-fi series Doctor Who, said she was inspired to join the show after seeing her friend, Miranda actor Sarah Hadland, finish as a runner-up on the 2024 series.

She’s paired with Johannes Radebe, who’s been with the programme since 2021. His previous dance partners have included chef John Waite, tennis player Annabel Croft and Gladiators star Montell Douglas, with whom he finished in sixth place in last year’s series.

Kingston gained international fame for playing Dr Elizabeth Corday in ER for eight years, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role. She is known to millions of Doctor Who  fans as River Song, aka The Doctor’s Wife, a role she has played opposite three Doctors.

Balvinder Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon are both Strictly newbies this year.

Sopal has played Walford matriarch Suki Kaur Panesar (now Unwin) on EastEnders since 2019. Caillon, a ballroom TV star from Australia, is a new recruit for the professional dancer cast, with 2025 marking his first year on the series.

Callion previously appeared as a professional dancer on three seasons of Australia’s Dancing with the Stars, has toured the world with the hit dance company Burn the Floor, and also competed on So You Think You Can Dance in Australia.

As Suki, Sopal has been at the heart of some of the soap’s most gripping storylines, from escaping her abusive husband Nish (Navin Chowdhry) to her on-off affair with Eve Unwin (Heather Peace).

Former England rugby union player Chris Robshaw is partnered with Strictly professional Nadiya Bychkova.

Bychkova joined the show in 2017 and has been in a relationship with fellow professional and fan-favourite Kai Widdrington. She’s been partnered with Blue singer Lee Ryan, singer-songwriter Matthew Goss and Olympic gold medallist Tom Dean, who was eliminated in week one during the 2024 series.

Robshaw, who earned 66 caps for England and captained the national team 43 times, has said he is ready to take his dad dancing “to a whole new level”.

Love Island star Dani Dyer, the daughter of EastEnders actor Danny, is partnered with Celebrity Big Brother finalist Nikita Kuzmin.

Dyer, who won the reality dating show in 2018, has gone on to present Is This Anxiety? and teamed up with her father on shows including Absolutely Dyer: Danny and Dani Do Italy.

This will mark Kuzmin’s fourth year on Strictly, with his previous partners including Tilly Ramsay, Ellie Symonds and Sam Quek. In 2023, he partnered with actor and singer Layton Williams, and they reached the final before losing out to Coronation Street star Ellie Leach.

Twenty-three-year-old model Ellie Goldstein is partnered with Strictly fan-favourite Vito Coppola.

In 2023, Goldstein became the first model with Down syndrome to appear on the cover of British Vogue – and has also appeared in a campaign for fashion brand Gucci. She has gone on to appear in the CBBC series Malory Towers and published two books about her life.

Coppola joined the show in 2022 and had a rapid rise to success, winning the competition the following year with his partner, Coronation Street star Ellie Leach. He was a runner-up on last year’s series alongside Miranda star Sarah Hadland.

George Clarke and his partner Alexis Warr are another all-new partnership, with 2025 marking Warr’s debut as a Strictly professional.

American dancer Warr is no stranger to dancing competitions – she has competed on the US version of Strictly, Dancing with the Stars, as well as performing on America’s Got Talent, World of Dance and several national tours of the US.

British YouTuber Clarke, also known as George Clarkey to his millions of followers, rose to prominence after sharing humorous skits and challenges online. He also hosts a podcast, The Useless Hotline.

Ahead of his debut, Clarke said he was prepared to “fall over a fair bit” on the show.

Former Team GB sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, known as Nitro to Gladiators fans, is partnered with Karen Hauer, the show’s longest-serving female professional. Hauer, who joined the series in 2012, lifted the glitterball trophy with Jamie Laing in 2020.

This isn’t Aikines-Aryeetey’s first time on the Strictly floor – he took part in last year’s Christmas Special alongside professional dancer Nancy Xu.

Dutch football legend Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who currently works as an assistant coach for the England football team alongside manager Gareth Southgate, is partnered with pro Lauren Oakley.

In 2023, Oakley was paired with her first celebrity partner, broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy, and they made it to week eight of the competition. She replaced Amy Dowden on last year’s series following the dancer’s foot injury and made it to the semi-final with former JLS singer JB Gill.

Former England footballer Karen Carney OBE is partnered with Chinese National Champion Carlos Gu.

The sports presenter will be Gu’s third partner since he joined the series in 2022, previously dancing alongside CBBC star Molly Rainford in his debut year. He was paired with presenter Angela Scanlon in 2023 and narrowly missed out in the quarter finals.

Carney is England’s third most-capped player of all time, with 144 caps. She has played for Chelsea, Arsenal, Birmingham City and the Lionesses.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star La Voix is dancing alongside long-time Strictly pro Aljaž Škorjanec, who’s served as a professional since 2013.

Škorjanec has made it to the final twice: in 2017 with Hollyoaks star Gemma Atkinson and last year with Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri.

La Voix was awarded runner-up on last year’s Drag Race and quickly became a fan favourite. She is the second drag performer to compete on Strictly, following in the footsteps of Tayce, also a former Drag Race contestant, who won last year’s Christmas Special.

Emmerdale star Lewis Cope may have been a last-minute draft-in after Game of Thrones actor Kristian Nairn withdrew from the series due to medical issues, but he’s in good company with long-time pro Katya Jones.

Jones, who joined Strictly in 2016, won the show in 2017 alongside Scottish actor Joe McFadden. Last year, she was partnered with opera singer Wynne Evans and forced to speak out when a video of Jones removing Evans’s hand from her waist went viral.

Cope is best known for playing Nicky Milligan on the soap since 2022.

Sixty-three-year-old Good Morning Britain presenter Ross King is partnered with Jowita Przystał, who competed in last year’s competition alongside The Only Way is Essex star Pete Wicks.

King, best known for being the LA correspondent for ITV’s daytime shows, is a four-time News Emmy winner and has hosted over 30 TV series since he first debuted on radio broadcasts aged 15 and then on television at 17.

Przystal joined Strictly in 2021, rapidly making a name for herself by winning the glitterball trophy with her first celebrity dance partner, Hamza Yassin, in 2022.

Neighbours star Stefan Dennis, who played Paul Robinson on the Australian soap, is competing alongside last year’s winner Dianne Buswell.

The dancer, who lifted the glitterball trophy alongside Chris McCausland last year, reached the final in 2018 with her now-boyfriend Joe Sugg and then again in 2023 with Bobby Brazier.

Buswell announced on 15 September that she is expecting her first child with Sugg, confirming she will continue to dance in the series as planned.

Dennis, who played Paul Robinson on the Australian soap, appeared in more than 6,000 episodes across 40 years until the show’s cancellation earlier this year.

Controversial former Apprentice contestant Thomas Skinner has been partnered with series fan-favourite Amy Dowden. Skinner’s casting has proved controversial among some Strictly fans, after he was seen socialising with US vice-president JD Vance at a barbecue during his visit to the Cotswolds this summer, during which time he was pictured wearing a Maga (Make American Great Again) cap. He defended attending the social event online, saying: “I am a normal bloke and it was an amazing opportunity.”

Skinner will be dancing with Dowden, who has returned to the series after missing out on both the 2024 and 2023 editions. In 2023, Dowden was absent from the series as she underwent treatment for stage three breast cancer. She returned in 2024 and was briefly partnered with JB Gill but was forced to drop out after a foot injury, with Oakley taking her place.

Dowden joined the show in 2017 and made it to the final in 2019 with partner Karim Zeroual. Her previous partners include JJ Chalmers, McFly star Tom Fletcher and James Bye.

Geordie Shore star and presenter Vicky Pattison is hoping to impress the judges alongside pro dancer Kai Widdrington, who went without a partner in last year’s series.

When Widdrington joined the series in 2021, he made it to the final alongside TV presenter AJ Odudu. He didn’t have the same luck in 2022, when he was eliminated in the first week with Kaye Adams. He had another successful year with Angela Rippon in 2023, making it to the prestigious Blackpool week.

Pattison shot to fame after appearing on Geordie Shore from 2011 to 2014, and went on to win I’m a Celebrity in 2015 and appeared on Celebrity MasterChef and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturdays, with a results show on Sundays, on BBC One.