“I’ve always believed that the best things happen when you take a chance and try something new,” added the 43-year-old, who this year released a memoir entitled Your Roots Don’t Define You.
“I may know my way around a salon floor, but the dance floor is a whole different story – and I can’t wait to get started.”
Last week, Delta Goodrem, 41, joined the line up, with the Australian singer and actress becoming the third celebrity to be announced for the upcoming series.
“I’ve been incredibly honoured to perform on many different stages throughout my career – from TV, theatre, film sets, to touring my own shows around the world,” Goodrem said in a statement.
“There is, however, one stage I’ve never stepped onto and that is the ballroom floor. I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Strictly and can’t wait to get started.”
Goodrem rose to fame in hit Australian soap opera Neighbours and recently represented her nation in the 2026 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The first line-up announcements have come significantly earlier than usual – the BBC usually confirms the line-up in August.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain recently, Ballas said: “There are going to be some people on there that will make you go ‘wow’.”
Asked about the new presenting trio, Ballas said she was “very excited to see what they bring” to the show.
“I know they took lots of chemistry tests, as did everybody, and those chemistry tests have brought those three people together, and I believe it’s absolutely unbelievable,” she said.
Ballas described the number of new elements on this year’s show as “quite extraordinary”, but added that it will still feel familiar to viewers.
“There are new dancers, new presenters, I heard a lot that there was supposed to be a new set, but don’t believe everything you read,” she said.
“I don’t think they’ll change the show too much, maybe tweaks here and there, but no major changes.”
Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke will all return as judges.
However, professional dancers Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk, Karen Hauer and Michelle Tsiakkas will not be coming back this year.
But other regulars including Amy Dowden, Dianne Buswell, Katya Jones, Vito Coppola and Aljaz Skorjanec will be back on the dance floor.
