Three new dancers for Strictly 2010

After last year's introduction of three new female dancers, this year sees three new male professionals taking to the dance floor on Strictly.

Each of them brings a new area of dance expertise and will join in a series which features more genres of dance than ever before - in both the competing couples' routines and the professional group dances.

This year Strictly will welcome:

ARTEM CHIGVINTSEV, a Latin Champion who is a graduate of 'So You Think You Can Dance' in the US and has unique experience of very different dancing genres in addition to his ballroom champion-level skill.

JARED MURILLO, who at 21, was a US open Swing Youth champion. Trained in America, Jared was a principal dancer in the movies 'High School Musical' 1 & 2.

ROBIN WINDSOR has completed five world tours of a worldwide ballroom show. He says that he's not a "conventional" style of ballroom dancer.

This series sees the addition of a professional dance group, dedicated to performing routines on a scale never before seen on Strictly. The group will feature Strictly regulars and some new professional faces. The group routines promise to deliver show-stopping dance spectacles.

BBC Controller of Entertainment Commissioning Mark Linsey says "Strictly will be back this autumn with more world-class dancers and more spectacular dancing than ever before. I'm delighted to be welcoming three new fantastic dancers to Strictly and am really excited about the introduction of a professional dance group, giving us even more opportunities to feature different areas of expertise and more genres of dance than in any other series."

This year on Strictly there will be 14 celebrities vying for the title. The 14 pro dancers partnering the celebrities will be:

Artem Chigvintsev, Jared Murillo, Robin Windsor, Anton du Beke, Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Vincent Simone

Ola Jordan, Flavia Cacace, Erin Boag, Kristina Rihanoff, Natalie Lowe, Aliona Vilani, Katya Virshilas

UPDATE: 26th July 2010

Ian Waite and Darren Bennett will return to Strictly as part of this series' new professional dance group, and will be joined by four new recruits - one male and three female - who will be confirmed as the series draws nearer.

Matthew Cutler won't return as a permanent member of the dance group. Instead, he's concentrating on a burgeoning choreographic and teaching career, plus managing his own dance school, which he opened last year. He will, however, return to choreograph some of the group numbers - and a few guest appearances aren't ruled out.

Matt said: "I've absolutely loved my time on Strictly, and now is a good time to focus on developing new areas of my career. I'm excited about having more time to commit to new projects, and of course, still having a hand in Strictly without all the training!"

Lilia Kopylova will also be bowing out of Strictly, but like Matt, will stay with the show on an ad hoc basis and may make a guest appearance.

Lilia said "I've had six brilliant series on the show, I will miss it, but I am looking forward to new opportunities ahead. Of course I will be there to support Darren and all of my fellow professionals."

The professional dance group will perform spectacular routines throughout the show, in a series which is bigger, better, and more than ever before, all about the dance.

Strictly Come Dancing will return to BBC One in the Autumn.