After her shock Strictly exit left Karen Hauer "emotional," the dancing star has just announced a new and exciting role - and she'll be showcasing some unknown talents for it.
Not the only one to be saying a heartfelt goodbye to the long-running dancing competition, Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas will also not be returning for the new season.
These big changes to the professional dancing team line-up, along with hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly also departing, have seen Strictly face intense criticism for the extent of the shake-up.
Cutting through the negativity surrounding the show, is the good news that Karen Hauer has been announced as the lead role in a brand-new revival of Richard Harris’s award-winning and warmly funny play, Stepping Out.
The star will take on the role of Mavis Turner, a tap dancing teacher who holds weekly classes in a church hall. The mis-matched amateur tap dancers who attend are from wildly different backgrounds, and have their own reasons for wanting the social interaction of the class.
While the attendee's skills are non-existent at the start of the show, an opportunity arises for the class to perform at a gala and they need to improve - and quickly. As well as some comical and exciting tap routines, the relationships between the characters and their interesting backstories make for a very entertaining watch.
The play was written by Richard Harris in 1984 as a West End production, and was turned into a film in 1991 - the action was then transported to Buffalo, New York, with the legendary Liza Minnelli taking on the role of Mavis, who for the movie is a failed Broadway performer.
Karen is well known for owning the Strictly dance floor with her professional ballroom and Latin-American dancing prowess, but taking on the role of Mavis Turner means she'll be showcasing her versatility and unknown skills.
The role requires immense acting and tap dancing talent, and fans might not previously have known that the star was also proficient at both of these.
Karen herself says, "I’m so pleased to be performing in this brand-new production of Stepping Out. It’s a play about ordinary people achieving extraordinary things through dance and in the role of their teacher and mentor, it certainly resonates with me!"
I’m looking forward to dusting off my tap shoes and working with a great company of actors and dancers to bring this heart-warming, feel-good comedy to the stage."
A tour of the show begins this summer in Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, on Thursday 13 - Saturday 29 of August. It will then move to the Palace Theatre, Southend, Fareham Live, Fareham, and the Churchill Theatre, Bromley.
Audiences watching the show will come away with the feel-good notion that ordinary people can do something extraordinary, and that a series of missteps and mishaps can lead to something truly special.
