Celebrities set to put best foot forward

The second season of Strictly Come Dancing steps out on SABC2 tonight. Leon Muston gives the low-down on the participants and their partners

LESS than six months after the conclusion of the first season, the South African version of the celebrity ballroom dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing returns to SABC2 at 8pm today.

While the show will boast the same hosts (Ian von Memerty and Sandy Ngema) and an unchanged panel of judges (Salome Sechele, Tyrone Watkins, Lilian Phororo and Dave Campbell), viewers will see eight new celebrities attempting to learn some complicated dance moves.

Here�s a guide to the competitors who will participate in the show�s second season:

� Mark Fish is known for his fancy footwork � but it�s on the soccer pitch, not the dance floor.

The 32-year-old defender, whose club career has included stints at Jomo Cosmos, Orlando Pirates, Lazio in Italy and both Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic in England, has represented Bafana Bafana in the African Nations Cup and World Cup events.

Fish�s dance partner will be Latin American, ballroom and freestyle dance teacher Hayley Bennet.

� Tamara Dey is associated with dance music, but not necessarily dancing herself.

Having broken on to the music scene as an oddity � a white woman who sings kwaito � she has subsequently experienced success on the house music scene, where she is part of a group called Flash Republic, with dance music producers Craig Massiv and Ryan Dent.

Dey will be partnered by Brandon Eilers, who has represented South Africa in international dance sport competitions and danced with Claudia Henkel in the first season.

� Dingaan Mokebe is more used to using his voice rather than his feet, having made his mark as a soap actor, voice-over artist and singer.

Best known for his roles in Muvhango and Generations, Mokebe has also appeared in adverts for Smirnoff Red, Nedbank and Kellogg�s and sung in the SABC Choristers.

Mokebe will dance with Phemelo Mabuse a dance teacher who has competed internationally in dance sport and is one of the regular troop of dancers for R&B singer KB.

� Babalwa Mneno is a model who first came to attention winning the Miss Eastern Cape title in 1996, and subsequently became first princess at the Miss South Africa pageant.

When not modelling around the world, Mneno is the boss of the Sundowns soccer team�s cheerleading squad, the Chikitas. She will be partnered by Thabo Moloto, who has served as a dance teacher on more than 100 ocean cruises.

� If ever there was an unlikely celebrity to sign up for the show, it has to be Riaan Venter, best known to TV viewers as a DIY expert. After designing sets for magazine shoots and TV shows, he was given a role on the show Huis Huis, the success of which resulted in his own show, Die Nutsman.

He will partner South African Latin American champion Hayley Hammond, who is a full-time ballroom dance teacher.

� Top Billing presenter Jeannie D has proved that she�s prepared to do anything from scuba diving to joyrides in helicopters, but will she be able to dance?

Cape Town-based Anthony Krotz, who has represented South Africa on many occasions in international competitions, will try to help her to win.

� Freedom Hadebe has achieved lots of success on television shows ranging from 7de Laan to Soul City and Justice For All.

He�ll be partnered by Mary Martin, who has represented South Africa as a dancer and is also a qualified adjudicator who regularly judges national amateur competitions.

� Grethe Fox is currently starring in Isidingo, although she has also appeared in the TV show Snitch and in the films A Reasonable Man, My Daughter�s Keep and Malunde.

Her dance partner, Harold van Buuren, has worked with stars like Kylie Minogue, Ricky Martin, Sting and Harry Connick Junior and his next job will be choreographing a stage musical in Spain.

The dances the competitors will have to learn include the waltz, Viennese waltz, foxtrot, jive, cha cha, rumba, samba, quickstep, paso doble and the tango.

Each week the couple with the lowest score from the judges and the voting public will be eliminated until one remains.

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