By Liam de Brun

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Strictly Come Dancing’s Alex Kingston is one of the fan favourites ahead of the series’ return for its 23rd season. Alex is one of 15 stars seeking to make it all the way to the final and lift the Glitterball Trophy at the conclusion of the 2025 edition of the annual BBC series. Each of the famous faces will be taught the art of dance by a professional dancer, with Dianne Buswell winning the show last year for the first time with blind comedian Chris McCausland. When the cast was announced last month, Doctor Who fans were ecstatic to see Alex listed alongside the likes of Dani Dyer, Ellie Goldstein and Balvinder Sopal. Alex became an international name in the role of Dr Elizabeth Corday in the global hit TV drama ER, which she starred in for eight years, winning a SAG award in the process. Other television work from Alex includes her BAFTA-nominated performance as Moll Flanders, plus roles in Douglas Is Cancelled, Treason, Gilmore Girls, Boudica, Lost in Austen, Dodger, A Discovery of Witches, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Arrow. Also showing a passion for theatre, Alex has worked extensively in theatre, including taking on Lady Macbeth and Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. However, Alex is best known for playing River Song on the iconic BBC sci-fi series, a role she has played opposite three Doctors on screen, beginning with David Tennant . Continuing to play River in audio adventure and novel form, the character known as ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ has not been seen since 2015’s The Husbands of River Song. Appearing at a panel with her former co-star Arthur Darvill in Aberdeen earlier this year, Alex expressed her desire to work with Ncuti Gatwa . Speaking prior to Ncuti’s exit being announced, Alex said: “I would like to go forward. I would like to work with Ncuti [Gatwa] because I just think that River and this Doctor… we’d be in each other’s wardrobes all the time. In fact we’d never go on adventures, we’d just be dressing up. It’d be fabulous.” Away from the screen, Alex was famously married to Harry Potter and Conclave star Ralph Fiennes after meeting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1983. Tying the knot in 1993, Alex and Ralph got divorced in 1997. Looking back on their split, Alex previously said: “We were like strangers – very fragile. His mother was dying and somehow we thought the wedding was going to heal everything. But that was crazy, of course.” She stated in an interview with the Daily Mail: “I was feeling worthless, that I would never find anyone else as good as my husband, which is ridiculous, but I had so little self-esteem… Divorce is awful but it is also something I don’t regret happening to me because it has shaped who I am now.” Alex went on to marry German author Florian Haertel in 1998, who she welcomed their daughter Salome into the world with in 2001. The couple’s marriage ended in 2009, with Alex going on to find love again with TV presenter Jonathan Stamp, who she married in Italy 10 years ago. The full list of celebrities taking part in Strictly this year is Emmerdale ’s Lewis Cope, EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal, former Love Island winner Dani Dyer, Gladiators’ Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Chelsea legend, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, YouTuber George Clarke, drag queen La Voix, rugby legend Chris Robshaw, model Ellie Goldstein, TV personality Thomas Skinner, former I’m A Celebrity winner Vicky Pattison, Neighbours’ Stefan Dennis, Lorraine’s Ross King and former footballer Karen Carney. Meanwhile, the line-up of professional dancers for Strictly 2025 was announced back in June – with reigning champion Dianne Buswell, Vito Coppola, Amy Dowden , Johannes Radebe, Karen Hauer, Jowita Przytal and Aljaz Skorjaned among those confirmed. They will be watched and scored by Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and head judge Shirley Ballas, with presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman also returning.