by Nicola Forman

Our very own celebrity crime fighter has now turned dancer.

Sittingbourne’s Rav Wilding has joined 15 other celebrities for the next series of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing.

The former Fulston Manor pupil who now lives in Maidstone first reached the public eye on Channel 4’s Eden show, in which contestants spent 13 weeks in the Australian outback, back in 2002. Now he can be seen every day on BBC One’s Missing Live, as well as regularly on Crimewatch.

He joins other celebrities including former EastEnder’s stars Natalie Cassidy and Ricky Groves, Footballers’ Wives stars Zoe Lucker and Laila Rouass, boxing champion Joe Calzaghe and tennis ace Martina Hingis among others.

He has been paired with Russian ballroom dancer Aliona Vilani. Having previously appeared on America’s Dancing With The Stars, this is Aliona’s first series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Excited about the challenge of Strictly, Rav also has some reservations: “I’ve got massive thighs and have already burst out of three suits."

"My thighs are 27-inches in circumference and I’m worried about a wardrobe malfunction on Strictly Come Dancing. I’m worried that if something rips on the dance floor the viewers might see a little more than they anticipated.”

He is no stranger to reality television and has already won Ready Steady Cook and The Weakest Link.

Speaking exclusively to the Kent Messenger in June, he said: “It’s nice to be a little bit varied and do something different.”

This year the judges Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli are joined by two new faces in the form of singing sensation and former Strictly Champion Alesha Dixon and world-renowned ballet dancer Darcey Bussell, who will appear as a guest judge in the last three shows of the series.
Rav, who lived with his family in Romney Court, Sittingbourne, will have his work cut out as he’s among the first eight celebrities to perform, and this year they have to perform two different routines, one of Friday night and one on Saturday.

At the end of Saturday night the judges’ scores from both dances will be combined and viewers will then be able to vote for which couple they want to stay in the competition.

The two couples with lowest scores from a combination of judges’ points and audience votes will then face each other in a dance-off.

After both couples have danced again the judges will decide which one couple is safe and who will be waltzing off home. The new series starts in September.