The Real Full Monty 2021: cast of the ITV ‘Strictly’ dance show hosted by Ashley Banjo - including Ola Jordan

ITV’s popular show, Strictly The Real Full Monty, has returned for another stunning two-night special of cancer awareness raising and celebrity entertainment.

The show kicked off on Monday 13 Decemebr, showing the stars rehearsing for the performance and hearing first hand experiences of the disease and raising awareness of cancer checks.

From professional dancers to soapstars and Olympians, the cast of nervous new recruits will strip, dance and most importantly, reveal why they felt compelled to take part in this year’s line up.

So, who are the celebrities taking part in the Full Monty? This is what you need to know.

Strictly the Full Monty 2021 cast

Laila Morse

EastEnders actress Laila is a television legend, having played the role of Mo Harris in the BBC show for over two decades.

Since joining the cast of EastEnders in 2000, she has also featured in The Bill, Great Expectations, Dancing on Ice, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and Celebrity MasterChef.

The 76-year-old’s real name is actually Maureen Oldman, and she is the sister of Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman.

James and Ola Jordan

Former Strictly Come Dancing professionals and married couple, James and Ola Jordan, will both be taking part in the new series of The Real Full Monty.

The pair joined the BBC dancing in 2006, and have been married for 18 years. Ola quit Strictly in 2015, one year after her husband was axed from the professional line up.

They welcomed their first child, Ella, in 2020 and now write a column for Hello magazine, as well as continuing to dance professionally.

James, 43, recently said of taking part in The Full Monty that he is “absolutely terrified”.

Ola, 39, added: "People can go to the doctors and not feel self-conscious about doing it, if we can do it in front of 3,000 people in an audience and millions of people on TV, hopefully, if it saves one person’s life."

Duncan James

Former Blue band member Duncan James will also be a part of this year’s line up, having recently also taken part in BBC’s Celebrity Mastechef.

The 43-year-old has also starred in Hollyoaks as Ryan Knight, as well as  Dancing on Ice, The Bill, Grease: The School Musical, Celebrity Juice, Pointless Celebrities and The Celebrity Circle.

Christine McGuinness

Model and author Christine McGuinness recently shared that she has been diagnosed with autism, the same neurological disorder which affects her three young children.

The audience might also recognise her from her recent BBC documentary, Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our family and Autism, which was well received by its audience.

She has also starred on ITV’s reality show, The Real Housewives of Cheshire.

Colin Jackson

Olympic athlete Colin Jackson became a British silver medallist when he competed in the hurdles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

He held the world records for the 110m hurdles and the 60m hurdles for over a decade and 27 years respectively.

More recently, he competed in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, as well as Dancing on Ice, making him the perfect candidate for another shot on the dancefloor.

Brenda Edwards

Singer and Loose Women panellist Brenda follows in the footsteps of fellow Loose Woman, Coleen Nolan, as she prepares to strip off for cancer awareness.

She came fourth place on The X Factor series two before starring in West End musicals such as Chicago, Carmen Jones, We Will Rock You, Hairspray and Sister Act: The Musical.

Martin Roberts

TV presenter Martin Roberts currently hosts BBC One’s Homes Under the Hammer and is a property investor and entrepreneur.

The 58-year-old also hosts Talk Radio’s Home Rule and is a regular participant on The One Show and BBC Breakfast.

In the past, he has been a contestant on Ready Steady Cook, Celebrity MasterChef, Hole in the Wall, Pointless and I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!

Teddy Soares

Love Island 2021 finalist Teddy Soares became known as the nice guy of the recent series, when he coupled up with Faye Winter.

The couple have went from strength to strength since the season finished, and recently moved in together.

Formerly, the year-old was a senior financial consultant and is now a Jack Wills brand ambassador

Demi Jones

Jones is the second Love Islander to sign up for The Real Full Monty, and her reason is incredibly close to home.

The Love Island 2020 contestant revealed in May this year that she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

The 32-year-old former stylist revealed recently that her tumour, located in her neck, was the “size of a golf ball,” and viewers of the reality show had reached out to her while she was on the show when they noticed a lump.

Talking about her diagnosis for Cancer Research’s play your part campaign, she said: “Even though it’s a treatable cancer, I still feel like, what could this do? Is this gonna kill me? Am I gonna be really poorly?"

"Quite a few people had messaged me and said that they’d seen the lump on my neck," she revealed. "My doctor said that he reckons it was there for years and years just slowly growing."

Who will host The Real Full Monty for 2021?

Diversity founder and choreographer Ashley Banjo will be leading the brave celebrities, as he preps them to bring old school glitz and glamour to the all-new supersized strip.

ITV have teased that this year’s show has a “completely new twist”, which will be revealed when the celebrities take to the stage in front of an audience in Blackpool.

When is Strictly The Real Full Monty on TV?

This year’s show airs across two consecutive nights, on Monday 13 December and Tuesday 14 December at 9pm on ITV.

Both episodes will also be available on the ITV Hub.