Strictly Come Dancing executives have revealed that Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope will step in for Kristian Nairn, following the Game Of Thrones actor’s unexpected departure from the show.

At 30, Lewis is widely recognized for his role as series regular Nicky Milligan on ITV’s Emmerdale, where he was dramatically unveiled as a part of the famed Tate and Dingle clans. 

Lewis was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2023 National Television Awards for the role. 

Beyond his work on Emmerdale, Lewis has appeared in television series such as Vera, Mrs Sidhu Investigates, and Hetty Feather, and he once collaborated with David Beckham on a notable advertising campaign. 

In theatre, Lewis has portrayed the central character Leonard Vole in the acclaimed production of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, toured nationwide in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and debuted on stage at 11 years old as Michael in the West End hit Billy Elliot: The Musical.

Expressing his enthusiasm for joining Strictly Come Dancing, Lewis remarked: ‘I’m thrilled to transition from the Dales to the dance floor and become part of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.’ 

‘I’ve always been a fan of the show and cannot wait to get started!’

Lewis was a drafted in as a last-minute replacement after Kristian was forced to withdraw from the lineup, and he revealed on The One Show he learned he’d landed a spot on the show while strolling down London’s Oxford Street with a friend. 

The actor bid farewell to Emmerdale in July 2024 after 18 months, when his character Nicky decided to leave the village with his boyfriend Suni Sharma. 

Since leaving the soap, Lewis has been no stranger to sharing snaps of his shirtless physique and modelling shoots, as well as his trips abroad with his personal trainer girlfriend Rachel Lopez. 

He also has an unlikely friendship with legendary football star David, telling Lorraine Kelly: ‘That’s what it was about [my brothers and me]. A few years ago he asked me to be in his advert for his fragrance, Bold Instinct. He is such a nice guy.’ 

The news was revealed during Thursday’s episode of The One Show, just hours after Kristian announced that he had been forced to quit the new series of Strictly over medical reasons.

In an official statement, the actor and DJ, 49, said: ‘With a heavy heart, I have to step back from this season of Strictly Come Dancing due to unexpected medical reasons. 

‘I was truly looking forward to the journey, and I’m deeply sorry to disappoint anyone who was looking forward to seeing me on the dance floor. 

‘Thank you all for your support, and I will be back on my feet very soon, in every sense. Love to all, Kristian.’

Kristian, best known for playing Hodor in Game Of Thrones, is 6ft10 and worried about how his height would impact him on the dancefloor.

He explained: ‘This will be a huge challenge for me physically, but I’m ready to rise to it! It’s a surreal and wonderful opportunity to shed one of my left feet!’ 

Sarah James, Executive Producer at BBC Studios said: ‘We’ve absolutely loved getting to know Kristian in this short time, and he has all the makings of a brilliant Strictly Come Dancing contestant. We’re incredibly sorry to lose him from this year’s series and we all wish him a speedy recovery.’ 

Sharing the reason for his exit in his own words in an Instagram video, he said: ‘Hey guys, I hope you’re doing well. 

‘Firstly, sorry to be reading this, it’s a bit like a wedding speech I guess. So anybody who’s just followed me in the last couple of weeks, hello I hope you’re well!

‘So I’m not going to beat around the bush with this, this is real talk. I’m not doing the PR thing, I hate that. I always try and be pretty honest and real with you guys and hopefully anybody who’s been around here for a while will attest to that.

‘I’ve been given a wonderful opportunity to become part of the the Strictly Come Dancing family as you may know. But sadly I’m having to withdraw from this year’s show. There’s been such a response and I definitely want to share why.

‘Like so many people at the minute I’ve been dealing with a high level of stress and yeah a little bit of grief if I’m going to be really real. I’ve always been my mother’s son and I’ve always powered through things like this in the past and any other time in my life. Honestly I think I’ve got a pretty healthy attitude to stuff like this – I thought I did at least. But for the first time it’s manifested physically and it’s caused a spike in my vitals, and it’s sort of ended in an area of concern.

‘I’m a big guy, I always have been ever since I set foot on this Earth, so I take my health very seriously and I do see my doctor all the time. I was checked for the show like two weeks before and everything was fine, so he was happy for me to take part.

‘Please know I am okay, I’m under treatment already and my doctor isn’t concerned. After two, maybe three weeks I’ll be pretty much back to normal. 

‘But sadly I don’t have time for the show now, I mean it’s not going to be in time for all the training and everything like that. And I also don’t want to leave them, you and the other contestants hanging, it’s not really fair.

‘And I’m gutted to say the least, I was really looking forward to taking part in this. The guys in the show, I’m not going to lie, have been completely understanding and I’ve honestly felt 100 per cent supported so I’m really grateful for that.

‘So let’s see what happens when I get sorted. I’m going to be taking it easy for now. I’ll be able to return to work very shortly.

‘I was so excited for this, but not only for myself but also for the amazing people from my home of Northern Ireland. It has always been my honour in my weird way just to show that I’m from Northern Ireland and I’m very proud. And I’m sorry if I’ve let you down in any way, but I’ll continue to do my best.

‘We live in strange crazy times at the minute so without being preachy, please look after yourself. Don’t ignore what’s going on inside your head. This is something i haven’t dealt with before, so this has really come as a surprise for me, I always thought I had this.

‘To my fellow contestants, although it was brief I really enjoyed meeting all of you. It’s a really great bunch of people and I’m looking forward to watching and seeing how well you all do.

‘Who knows what the future holds. I’m totally still here and creating in my own haphazard way and just trying to be better than ever. And don’t worry guys, I’ve totally got this. I love you all truly, I really do and thank you for being part of my journey. Thank you for all the support you’ve always shown me and the new people as well, I really appreciate it. And lastly just enjoy the show and thank you for all the support it’s been really great.’

Strictly Come Dancing was once the jewel in the crown of Saturday night TV with millions of viewers tuning into see their favourite celebrities compete in glamorous costumes for the glitter ball trophy.

But now, ahead of the show’s upcoming series, bookies are offering odds as low as 8-1 the programme with be the last ever following multiple controversies, a lacklustre line-up of Z-list stars and less women than men agreeing to take part and with good reason.

The long-running BBC series has truly lost its sparkle after former contestant Wynne Evans, 53, was accused of inappropriate behaviour and forced to apologise for making an unacceptable sexual remark on stage at a press event, which led to him resigning from the Strictly tour.

In 2023, actress Amanda Abbington, 51, complained about professional dancer Giovanni Pernice, 34, being ‘unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean’ during their rehearsals which she said caused her to quit midway through the season.

And in the same year, former Love Island contestant Zara McDermott, 28, was left ‘incredibly distressed’ following her experience in the training room with Graziano Di Prima, 31, who admitted to kicking the documentary maker, resulting in his axing.

Now, it appears that female celebrities are too terrified to sign up, with six women appearing on the cast this year compared to nine males, and bosses have certainly lowered the previously high bar with who they allow to take part.

The cast this year includes several former reality stars such as Love Island winner Dani Dyer, ex-Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, Apprentice candidate Tom Skinner, RuPaul’s Drag Race runner-up La Voix, and Gladiator Harry Aikines-Aryeetey.

Strictly bosses previously banned influencers and reality stars from taking part with now the likes of former Apprentice contestant Tom, who was fired by Lord Sugar in 2019, deemed famous enough to compete, with one Daily Mail reader saying: ‘More than half are not celebrities’.

And the disappointing line-up hasn’t gone unnoticed as thousands of Strictly fans took to platform X to voice their criticisms, with one writing: ‘The bottom of the barrel has been well and truly scraped’.

Another said: ‘The Strictly line-up is complete and it’s truly abysmal’ as another person wrote: ‘This is without a doubt the worst starting line-up. Wondering if the past two years has caused so much damage to its reputation. Is this the beginning of the end?’

‘Safe to say this is the worst Strictly line-up of all time,’ another user posted.

John Hughes commented: ‘One of the weakest, most uninspiring ‘celebrity’ line-ups in years. The show is still having difficulty signing up female contestants, it seems, following previous scandals with male pros.

‘Time for Strictly to be rested as a result series and have three or four specials per year?’

Commenting on the mundaneness of the cast this year, another user on X said: ‘They should do some kind of study to see if the Strictly line-up really does get less glamorous every time because like?’ 

A TV source added: ‘Strictly isn’t the show it used to be. It has been hit by scandal after scandal and now it’s impossible for it to recover.

‘Bosses used to be very particular about the lineup but now celebrities who have previously been on a host of shows, even winning I’m A Celeb in Vicky’s case, have been recruited.

‘The lack of women in the cast this year says it all, females are afraid to take part due to the controversies of recent years while few changes have been made to ensure safety in the training rooms.

‘It’s sad because the show was once so loved by viewers of all ages but there’s an unavoidable darkness now and insiders even believe this could be the last ever series.’

It comes after Strictly was hit with drug allegations after two of the show’s stars were allegedly caught taking cocaine and it was widely talked about among the cast.

The BBC has launched an investigation this month into the alleged drug taking while last week the Sun on Sunday reported that a 10-year show veteran was previously offered cocaine by one of its stars at a wild party.

It’s the second successive year where less female contestants have signed up to Strictly after fewer women joined the line-up in 2024.

There were nine male celebrities and only six women after Amanda spoke on her experiences having competed on the show.

During an interview on Channel 4 News in July last year, Amanda described the aftermath of her time on Strictly as ‘brutal’ and ‘unforgiving’ after she and her family received death threats from Giovanni fans.

She said: ‘There were five or six people previous to me that had the same experience.

‘It was unnecessary and when it was getting thrown at me I would shut down. I have been in abusive situations before so I recognised the red flags so I would shut down and I wouldn’t be able to do the job because I felt attacked… It was not conducive to a happy environment’. 

TV presenter Laura Whitmore, who was partnered with Giovanni in 2016, said she felt ‘broken’ and ‘cried everyday’ during her time on the show as she supported Amanda with her claim against the Italian pro dancer last year.  

Following a BBC investigation, six of Amanda’s allegations towards Giovanni were upheld and he was cleared on 11 out of 17, and has since gone onto win the Italian version of the competition with his now girlfriend Bianca Guaccero.  

This year’s cast also includes EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal, Lioness Karen Carney, Lorraine Showbiz correspondent Ross King and influencer Ellie Goldstein, who made history when she became the first model with Down syndrome to cover British Vogue magazine.  

Rugby player Chris Robshaw, Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis, YouTuber George Clarke, Doctor Who actress Alex Kingston, and sportsman Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will also be taking to the Strictly ballroom next month.