Strictly Come Dancing 2025: Gladiator Nitro revealed on Newsround

Gladiator Nitro has been announced on BBC Newsround as the first contestant on Strictly Come Dancing 2025.

The dancing show will be back this autumn as celebs dance with pro-dancers, with the winning couple getting their hands on the famous glitterball trophy.

Nitro - real name Harry Aikines-Aryeetey - has shown SOME of his skills before when he took part in the 2024 Strictly Christmas Special.

He told Newsround presenter Jenny that he's "buzzin" and he's "so excited, I cannot wait."

Who is Nitro?

Nitro, or Harry, is a former athlete and sprinter who represented England and was British 100m champion.

He represented Team GB at the Olympics and took part in World Championships, European Championships and in three Commonweath Games.

Since 2023 he has been part of the Gladiators Team on BBC One.

He missed the second season through injury but starred on the CBBC prank show, Gladiators: Epic Pranks, instead.

In 2024 he danced with pro Nancy Xu in the Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing.

He won't be the first Gladiator to show their dance floor moves after Montell Douglas - also known as Fire - came sixth in Strictly 2024.

Harry arrived to the Newsround studio in disguise with sunglasses, a fake goatee beard and a bucket hat before revealing himself as the first contestant announced for Strictly 2025.

After taking off his disguise to make the announcement Harry said: "I think I'm looking forward to, obviously, just being part of the process, maybe dressing up a little bit, learning new skills. I'm one of those people - I'm a sponge - so put in an environment where I can learn something new, I'm over the moon."

Chatting on Newsround's purple sofa with Jenny he added that he hopes to get some advice from Gladiator Fire, AKA Montell Douglas who appeared on the show last year.

"She did amazingly firstly, and I cannot wait to actually pick up the phone and firstly tell her and then say, 'Help me'."

The Gladiator Fire - or Montell Douglas - was on Strictly in 2024.

During their chat, Jenny asked Harry if there's anything that scares him about being in the dancing contest: "There's a few dances that I'm a little bit wary of," Nitro said.

"Anything that's slow, slow is not something that I'm about."

Harry, who competed at the Rio Olympic Games for Great Britain in 2016, said his sprint training will help with the hard demands of Strictly.

"I'm used to training in one aspect, so I'll be able to focus in with the skills that I have, but it's a different type of training, isn't it? So I'm gonna be able to apply myself, physically, but can I deal with the mental aspect and the emotional side of it? It is gonna be different."

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this September.