After being forced to drop out of Dancing on Ice due to an injury, Dame Sarah Storey is headed back onto the dance floor but this time, her toes will be on firmer ground.
"It is a show I have wanted to do for a long time but every other year I have been competing in the autumn and so couldn’t ever say yes," she said.
"Now I have stepped down from competition it was the perfect time, so when the Strictly team contacted me I didn’t hesitate to say yes please!"
This weekend, Storey and 14 other famous faces will begin their Strictly Come Dancing journeys, but they can all relax a little as eliminations won't take place quite yet.
Up first is the launch show, which features a big group number as the celebrities get their first taste of the ballroom and are paired with their professional partner.
For Storey, that is Julian Caillon, who she's "really pleased" to be dancing with.
Then, next Saturday, the celebrities will take part in their very first live show where they will be given their first scores of the series. But these points will then roll over to the next week - where the real intensity begins.
But before all that, let's get to know Sarah Storey. Scroll on to find out more about the Strictly Come Dancing 2026 contestant.
Who is Sarah Storey?
Age: 48
Job: Athlete
Instagram: @damesarahstorey
Sarah Storey is Britain’s most successful Paralympian, with 30 Paralympic medals, including 19 golds. She began her Paralympic career as a swimmer at Barcelona 1992, aged just 14, before later switching to cycling, where she became a dominant force on both road and track.
Just some of her major achievements include being a 29-time world champion, a 21-time European champion and holding 75 world records. She took part in the Paralympics on nine occasions between 1992 and 2024, making her one of the most experienced campaigners in the history of the games.
"It’s an incredible honour to have such a title," she previously told enable of being Britain’s most successful female Paralympian. "I never really targeted it as a goal, and when the media were talking about it prior to my first race in Rio I was trying not to think about it."
Speaking to Radio Times after adding two more gold medals to her cabinet at Paris 2024, Storey said: "I'm super proud of everything that led to this being possible... there's a photograph from me on the podium in Paris which kind of sums up the feeling, just super excited, looking at the sky.
"The feeling of winning is like no other."
Speaking to The Guardian about her journey to becoming an elite athlete, Storey also revealed she was bullied following her success at the Barcelona Paralympics when she was 14.
"It helped shape my identity and my career,” she said. “Sometimes it would have been nice to fit in but my whole goal was to compete at elite level. It wasn’t great at the time but I found ways to deal with it.
Storey was previously part of the 2025 Dancing on Ice cast, however she was forced to withdraw after fracturing her ankle during rehearsals.
"Absolutely gutted to have my Dancing on Ice training interrupted in this way - just as my first routine... was really coming together!" she wrote on Instagram.
"An awkward stumble and fall with my left foot stuck on the ice sadly led to me fracturing my left ankle."
What has Sarah Storey said about Strictly Come Dancing?
For Storey, Strictly has been a show she has always wanted to do, but she has often been competing in the autumn and so could never say yes. But as she has stepped down from competition, now felt like "the perfect time".
Ahead of the launch show, Storey said she felt "a combination of nervous and excited".
She added: "I am looking forward to working with the professionals and getting to know a whole new world that these incredible people have excelled in.
"This is a different type of experience and competition to being an athlete... because the preparation is completely led by others and as an athlete we are used to knowing our events inside out and having more understanding of what good looks like.
"It’s completely out of my comfort zone to be on national tv doing a competition I know nothing about! But that’s one of the reasons I am so excited too!"
Strictly Come Dancing begins on Saturday 19 September at 7:25pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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