Reverend Richard Coles announced as the fifth contestant for Strictly Come Dancing 2017

Reverend Richard Coles has been confirmed as the fifth contestant for this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The presenter, who co-hosts BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live and also worked on BBC One's The Big Painting Challenge, joins actress Gemma Atkinson, Loose Women star Ruth Langsford, EastEnders' Davood Ghadami, and The Saturdays singer Mollie King, all of whom have already been revealed to be appearing in the 2017 line-up.

'Cometh the hour, cometh the overweight Vicar with arthritis in his knees,' Richard joked of his role in the dance competition.

The news that Richard was joining Strictly was revealed on Radio 2's Chris Evans Breakfast Show, where Richard is also a regular contributor to the 'Pause for Thought' segment.

Fans of the show were thrilled to see Richard taking to the dancefloor to fight for the coveted glitterball trophy, with one exclaiming: 'Now we're in business!'

'Now THAT has absolutely made my day!!' another agreed, whilst a third wrote: 'Very excited by this announcement'.

'Another inspired contestant with personality. Let's hope he doesn't make a dogs (collar) dinner of it 😇' a fourth applauded.

Whilst we may not have seen the Reverend's dance moves before, we do know that he's got a touch of musical talent, as he's the only Vicar in Britain to have had a number one single. Back in the 1980s, he was part of pop band The Communards, whose hits included Don't Leave Me This Way and Never Can Say Goodbye.

In addition to his media roles, he is also Vicar of St Mary's Church in Finedon, Northamptonshire and Chancellor of the University of Northampton.

Strictly Come Dancing is one of the BBC's most popular programmes, with 2017 marking the 15th series of the show.

An official air date has not yet been announced, although it's thought that it will be at some point in late August or early September, as this has been the case in the past.