STRICTLY Come Dancing star Kevin Clifton will play the lead role in the upcoming national tour of Strictly Ballroom The Musical.

The show, which wowed audiences a couple of years ago at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, is based on Baz Luhrmann’s movie and will be directed by Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood.

Kevin, one of the most popular professionals on the TV dance contest, will play young dancer Scott Hastings who wants to shake up the stuffy world of competitive ballroom dancing.

Kevin said: “I’m beyond excited to be fulfilling a lifelong ambition. When I was 10 years old I first watched the movie that would become my favourite film of all time.”

Kevin joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2013, performing in the final five times, and was crowned Strictly Champion in 2018.

After making his West End musical theatre debut in 2010 in Dirty Dancing, Kevin has starred in musicals The Wedding Singer and Rock of Ages.

Strictly Ballroom The Musical tells the story of Scott Hastings, a talented, arrogant and rebellious young ballroom dancer.

When Scott’s radical dance moves see him fall out of favour with the Australian Federation, he finds himself dancing with Fran, a beginner with no moves at all.

Inspired by one another, this unlikely pair gather the courage to defy both convention and their families.

The musical brings together iconic songs like Love is in the Air, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps and Time After Time with new songs by Sia, David Foster and Eddie Perfect.

Strictly Ballroom can be seen at York’s Grand Opera House from November 23-28, the Lowry in Salford from November 13 to December 5, and Bradford Alhambra from May 31 to June 5 next year.