A HOST of Bradford stars are set to don their sequins next month in a ‘Strictly’ style dance event in aid of Rob Burrow and Motor Neurone Disease.

The Rob Burrow Strictly Ball – featuring 11 celebrity dancers and a star-studded judging panel – is taking place on March 19 at Headingley Stadium, with all proceeds going towards the Rob Burrow Centre for MND.

Among the celebs signed up to take part are three with strong links to the Bradford district – along with one man who for a time was the biggest pantomime villain in the city.

Soap star Natalie Anderson, from the city, is taking part – she is best known for her role as Alicia Metcalfe in Emmerdale, which she performed for five years.

She has also appeared on Loose Women and This Morning over the past few years.

The second Bradford famous face taking part is Dr Amir Khan, the GP at Ridge Medical Practice who is a familiar face on television screens after appearing regularly on Good Morning Britain and This Morning since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Also taking to the dancefloor is Bradford Bulls’ Grand Final and World Club Challenge winning halfback Iestyn Harris.

The Welshman, 45, played more than 120 games for Bradford after signing for the Odsal club in 2004, scoring 36 tries and kicking 92 goals. His time at the Bulls followed stints at Warrington, Leeds, and as a Welsh international rugby union player.

Other famous faces taking part include Barrie McDermott – who during his playing career was one of the least popular figures in rugby league in the eyes of Bulls fans due to his rivalry with Stuart Fielden.

Former Leeds United and Sheffield United striker Brian Deane – who famously scored the first ever Premier League goal – is taking part, alongside fellow sportsman Ian Marsden, a British Paralympian who has a rare motor neuron condition and uses a wheelchair.

From the world of television, Nigel Boyle, who played Ian Buckells – also known as H – in hit crime drama Line Of Duty, is competing, along with former Emmerdale actor Adele Silva, who played Kelly Windsor for 18 years.

BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent, whose coverage of MND alongside Rob Burrow, former Bradford City captain Stephen Darby, and Scottish rugby union player Doddie Weir, has thrust the disease into the national spotlight, is taking part, as is BBC Look North presenter Luxmy Gopal.

The final competitor comes from the world of politics, and will be hoping to do better than her husband Ed Balls did in Strictly Come Dancing. Yvette Cooper, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford – Rob Burrow’s home constituency – will be strutting her stuff hoping to take home the top prize.

The judging panel for the event will feature professional dancer Nadia Bychkova and her partner in the last series of Strictly, TV presenter Dan Walker, along with another former Strictly star – and Emmerdale actor – Kelvin Fletcher, and comedian Jon Richardson.

Presenting the whole thing will be BBC Look North’s sports reporter Tanya Arnold, and TV presenter Helen Skelton, who is part of Channel 4’s rugby league coverage this season (and married to Rhinos halfback Richie Myler).

Tickets for the event have fully sold out. An auction is also being held on the night, and people can also donate by visiting the Rob Burrow Strictly Ball’s Just Giving page.