The Saturdays' Mollie King confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing: 'I'm very competitive, watch out'

Mollie King will be giving up her Saturdays soon after becoming the first contestant confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing 2017. The What About Us singer follows in the dance steps of her bandmate Frankie Bridge, who competed in the BBC One series three years ago.

King, 30, announced the news on BBC Radio 1's Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw on 7 August and said she was "so excited" to sashay along the dancefloor in sequins.

Speaking to Grimshaw, the pop star revealed: "I'm a huge fan of Strictly Come Dancing so I can't actually believe I'm lucky enough to be taking part in it this year. I'm literally so excited to learn Latin and ballroom dancing, and of course I can't wait to get into the sequins too! It's going to be a lot of hard work but I'm ready for the challenge."

It is still early days but King is already delivering fighting talk, warning her fellow competitors: "It's something that I always said I wanted to do. I've always watched it with my family and it looks so fun. I'm going to be giving it my all. I'm very competitive so watch out, other contestants, I'm taking you down!"

The Higher singer also admitted she is looking forward to getting a "cheeky spray tan" and being treated like a "princess" while her number one wish is to dance to her idol, Britney Spears.

Although Strictly contestants are sworn to secrecy, King did reveal the news to her parents and her bandmate and Strictly alum Bridge, 28, who narrowly missed claiming the disco ball glory in 2014 when she came runner-up to winner Caroline Flack.

King's fellow contestants are yet to be announced but it is rumoured that BBC bosses are keen to sign-up Brian Conley to inject some comic relief into this year's series. A source told The Sun of Conley: "Brian is all signed up for the show and is sure to be a laugh a minute.

"He's a born performer and really knows how to get a crowd going given his years of experience playing Buttons in panto. From eating fire on Loose Women earlier this year to flashing his rear on The Wright Stuff – 'Dangerous Brian' certainly won't be afraid to try anything on the Strictly dance floor."

Other stars rumoured for Strictly 2017 include singer Alexandra Burke, former EastEnders actress Rita Simons, Bros singer Matt Goss and Robot Wars host Angela Scanlon. It will be the first series without head judge Len Goodman, who retired in 2016 and has been replaced by Latin Ballroom champion Shirley Ballas.

Presenter Ore Oduba and his partner Joanne Clifton were crowned winners of Strictly 2016.