Strictly Come Dancing kicks off next weekend and the lineup rumours are coming thick and fast.

It seems that bosses of the show are not just on the lookout for Olympic champions though and there will be a few stars on the lineup who are not from the sporting world and Dani Harmer will be one of those famous faces.

The Tracy Beaker actress has come out and confirmed that she will be taking part in the BBC competition – the first celebrity to do so this year – and it seems she was forced into making the admission after fans claimed she cancelled other work commitments to star in the series.

The actress had been due to perform in a touring version of the musical ‘Disco Inferno’, alongside Sam Attwater and Javine Hylton but yesterday it was revealed that the production was cancelled, with many people blaming Dani’s exit as the reason it couldn’t go ahead.

Harmer quickly took to Twitter to deny the reports and tweeted her followers saying:

“As you know disco inferno has been cancelled but it has nothing to do with me. It is…All down to bad management and money! But I can now confirm I’m doing strictly come dancing! So yea.”

Her representative added: “We share the disappointment of Dani’s fans that the Disco Inferno tour was regrettably cancelled. But we’re delighted that the BBC have offered Dani this exciting opportunity, which she is now able to confirm.”

They later told the BBC News Website that the tour was cancelled due to financial reasons, adding:

“We share the disappointment of Dani’s fans that the Disco Inferno tour was regrettably cancelled but we are glad that Dani has now been able to accept this exciting opportunity and we look forward to seeing her on the Strictly dancefloor.”

A BBC spokesperson backed her story and confirmed: “We’re delighted Dani is on board for Strictly and, when booked, was 100% available.”

Of course Dani isn’t totally new to the whole dance thing and recently made it as far as the final of BBC’s Let’s Dance For Sport Relief, when she took to the stage with her co-star Tyger Drew-Honey to dance to “Fat Sam’s Grand Slam” — from Bugsy Malone

The full Strictly lineup is expected to be confirmed next week, but we have compiled a list of all the stars strongly suspected to be taking part. It includes quite a few Olympians, along with Westlife star Nicky Byrne, actress and model Jerry Hall and Eastenders actress Charlie Brooks. Check out the list here.

Do you think Dani will be a good addition to the show? Leave your comments below…