FORMER Tavistock student and Paralympic silver medallist Lauren Steadman will be strutting her stuff on national television this autumn as she was announced as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing yesterday.

The BBC announced on Monday that the former Kelly College student (now Mount Kelly) would be joining the line-up of the 16th series of the award-winning entertainment show.

Lauren will now be hoping to add the coveted glitter ball trophy to her collection of impressive accolades, which includes double World Champion Paratriathlete, Paralympic silver medallist in the PT4 triathlon and six-time European Champion.

Lauren was born missing her lower right arm but this only spurred her on to be the best she can be and she relishes the challenge of overcoming these barriers.

She was a student at Kelly College from 2007 to 2011. She started her sporting career in swimming at the age of 11, with her first international competition at age 13 in Denmark. At 14, she went to Beijing Paralympic Games at which point her career really took off. Such was her talent, Lauren switched sports from swimming to triathlon after London 2012’s Paralympic Games where she then went on to win silver at Rio 2016 in the sport’s inaugural inclusion at the games.

Next month, Lauren will be competing in the Elite Paratriathlon Grand Final in the Gold Coast, Australia. She heads there as the European Champion and will be hoping to regain her World Champion title.

After the annoucement, Lauren said: ‘I still don’t think it has properly sunk in that I’m actually going to be part of this year’s strictly! I have loved the show since I was young and it’s a huge thing to tick off my bucket list. I’m more nervous about being on stage, performing live and in front of the judges than I am about the Elite Paratriathlon Grand Final next month! But I’m up for the challenge and excited to swap my triathlon kit for dancing shoes and sequins.’

The full celebrity contestant line up is still to be released but Lauren will be joining the likes of Blue singer Lee Ryan, comedian Seann Walsh, Katie Piper, Pussycat Dolls star Ashley Roberts and documentary maker Stacey Dooley among others.