Actress Alex Kingston is set to light up the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom this weekend, alongside professional partner Johannes Radebe. The pair have impressed audiences and judges week in and week out, with last week's performance earning them 35 points and fourth place on the leaderboard. This week, they will dance a Cha Cha to Ring My Bell by Anita Ward.
Kingston's career spans over 45 years, beginning at age 17 with a role in the TV show Grange Hill and an uncredited part in a St Trinian's film. She gained international recognition playing Dr Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER from 1997 to 2004. Her stage work includes classics such as Oliver Twist and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but her true love is Shakespeare. She has starred in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, and Macbeth, and described playing Prospero in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2023 production of The Tempest as 'one of the highlights of [her] career'.
Kingston is now best known for playing River Song in Doctor Who from 2008 to 2015, a role she has reprised in audio productions, video games, and on stage. She appeared on The One Show to reveal her participation in Strictly Come Dancing, saying she was inspired by Sarah Hadland's performance last year. 'I reached out and asked her what her experience of having been part of the show [was], and she was really honest with me about how hard it is, how overwhelming it can be but also how it absolutely changed her life and that she would do it again in a heartbeat,' Kingston told hosts Roman Kemp and Alex Scott.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 29th November at 6:35pm.
