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Zim-born rugby star is competitor in 2014 Strictly Come Dancing

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THE 2014 series of the ever popular Strictly Come Dancing show was launched on DStv’s BBC Entertainment channel 120 last Sunday

THE 2014 series of the ever popular Strictly Come Dancing show was launched on DStv’s BBC Entertainment channel 120 last Sunday and this time the action is almost concurrent with that in the home country, Britain.

Entertainment Reporter

Strictly Come Dancing has a large following in Zimbabwe and the popularity of the TV show is set to rise as a result of a local connection with one of this year’s contestants.

“The Zimbabwean connection this year is contestant Thom Evans, who was born in Harare in 1985, but who moved to the UK with his family while very young,” said Multichoice Zimbabwe publicity and public relations manager Liz Dziva.

Dziva said this would be the second year in a row in which Zimbabwe has a Strictly Come Dancing connection: last year it was runner-up Natalie Gumede, whose family came from Zimbabwe.

Evans is one of 14 celebrity contestants on the show, selected because of his past career as an international rugby star.

Paired on the show with professional dancer Iveta Lukosiute, he is aiming to win the show’s prestigious glitter ball trophy and the winner’s title, for which celebrities and their professional partners train and perform different dance routines each week, trying to avoid being voted off by audiences.

Evans was born in Harare in April 1985 and was later educated at Wellington College in England, after the family moved to the UK. He started playing rugby at school and after graduating he played professionally for the London Wasps between 2004 and 2006.

In 2006 he moved to the Glasgow Warriors, where he still holds the record for the most tries scored. He played rugby for England at under-16, under-18 and under-21 level, but selected to play at a higher level for Scotland.

Strictly Come Dancing is screened on BBC Entertainment (DStv channel 120) on Sunday evenings.