TV star Ross King is among the star-studded lineup foxtrotting their way to the Strictly dancefloor.
The 63-year-old Scottish TV star is known for presenting ITV breakfast programmes, including Good Morning Britain and Lorraine, as the shows’ Los Angeles correspondent.
King is a four-time News Emmy winner and has hosted more than 30 TV series since he first debuted on radio broadcasts aged 15. He started out as a tea boy on Radio Clyde in Scotland before becoming a presenter and moving on to TV, hosting quizzes, documentaries, chat shows and the BBC’s lunchtime programme Pebble Mill. He was also heavily involved in musical theatre and pantomime shows as a child.
After moving to Los Angeles as a correspondent in 2000, King secured a small acting role in the 2004 release The Day After Tomorrow. His other film credits include Half Past Dead, Cruel Game, Do It For Uncle Manny and Trust Me, playing US talk show host Ray Lungo. He has also appeared in many pantomimes over the years and in numerous West End shows.
In the Noughties, Ross won a reality TV competition run by local television station KTLA to find a new weather presenter, which he did for a year before becoming KTLA's entertainment anchor.
King’s life on both sides of the red carpet in Hollywood – as a journalist and celebrity – has inspired his three fiction books about the secret underbelly of LA life alongside co-author Shari Low, including The Fall, The Rise and The Catch.
In his career as a broadcast journalist, King has dished out industry gossip and insider information, and interviewed the likes of Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and Mariah Carey.
King was awarded an MBE in 2018 for services to broadcasting, the arts and charity.
In 2021, he made his foray into voice acting when he voiced all the characters of the iconic Wombles in their first appearance in a new CGI animation.
On joining Strictly, he said: “From the bright lights of Hollywood to the glittering ballroom – it’s a dream come true to be part of such an iconic show.
“I can’t wait to learn from the best, meet my fellow contestants, and, most importantly… try not to step on too many toes! Let’s give this the best that I can! As my mum always said: ‘You’ll never know till you give it a go!’”
Speaking to The Mirror about his career, King said he had the best of both worlds in his access to Hollywood. “Having been an actor too, I do have a real empathy with the stars and know what they go through. But I’m not a luvvie by any means. I’m a journalist,” he said.
“I’m a big family man. I still get homesick for my mum and sister back home in Scotland and come back to visit as often as possible,” he said. “But I get up every day and from my house in the hills I look out across the Hollywood sign. It always makes me smile.
“I’m a kid from Knightswood in Glasgow and I’ve made it to Hollywood. It still feels like a bit of a fairy tale.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturdays, with a results show on Sundays, on BBC One.
