Strictly Come Dancing: YouTube creator John Nellis to compete

Away from his day job of interviewing the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé, John Nellis has taken to a different discipline to showcase his talents.

The social media star, from Newcastle, County Down, has been paired with Katya Jones in this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Nellis quit his job as an air traffic controller four years ago and is now flying high on social media as one of the UK’s biggest sports content creators, with a combined audience of more than 20 million followers across social media.

BBC News NI has spoken to people in his hometown about how they feel about him Cha Cha Cha-ing across the famous Strictly dancefloor.

One of Anna Monteith’s best friends is John’s younger sister Fiona, so she has known him most of her life.

“He’s one of the most genuine people that I know, he’s bubbly, charismatic, he can talk to a room full of people and is the exact same person day and night,” she said.

“It is all down to his family and his upbringing and it really shines through – when he’s on stage or in his local for a pint.”