Third season of dance reality show kicks offs

Sunday Times columnist Lesley Mofokeng and Sara Els

And the contestants for this year's competition are:

Female contestants
• singer Patricia Lewis, teaming up with Marcel Vilonel,
  
• Wonderbra model Lieschen Botes, partnering with Ryan Hammond,
  
• Eastern Mosaic presenter Candice Moodley, teaming up with Quintus Jansen,
  
• Coca-Cola popstar winner Thembisile Ntaka, will be paired with Thabo Moloto, who tore his ligament during rehearsals last season and who was the first to be voted off when he danced with controversial model Babalwa Mneno.

  Male contestants

• 50/50 host Erald Felix, teaming up with Mary Martin,
  
• Olympic silver medalist Hezekiel Sepeng, teaming up with Lindsey Muckle,
  
• Sunday Times columnist Lesley Mofokeng, dancing with Sara Els and blogging about it on his new Sunday Times blog, and
  
• Hip Hop Pantsula musician Jabulani ‘Jabba' Tsambo with Hayley Bennet.

While Ian von Memerty and Sandy Ngema remain at the helm of the show presentation, Dave Campbell, Lilian Phororo, Salome Sechele and Tyrone Watkins have been chosen as the judges for the third series.

The show will feature a one-hour dance competition followed by an hour break and then resuming for the announcement of results, during which the contestant with the lowest mark will be sent packing.

“SABC2 has made changes to its schedule in order to bring more local content into core primetime,” said Ed Worster, SABC2's programme manager.

“Potentially, a bigger audience will watch on Thursdays as people go out on Saturdays and are less likely to follow the reality format. The split is also in line with the way Strictly Come Dancing is done in other countries.”

The third season will be produced by the Rapid Blue team. The Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg will once again be the venue for the show's production, and Crystal Forum will sponsor the Swarovski Crystals for the magnificent gowns the ladies will wear.

The show will be repeated on Saturdays at 10pm.