Strictly Come Dancing 2018: Faye Tozer vs. Lee Ryan vs. Ashley Roberts' chart stats

Before they battle it out on the ballroom floor, who wins in the music stakes?

The lineup for this year's Strictly Come Dancing has been fully unveiled, which means a.) summer is almost over (nooo!) and b.) we're just a hop, skip and fox-trot away from spending our Saturday nights parked in front of the telly.

Unsurprisingly, our favourite celeb contestants are those from a pop music background. Remember when Alexandra Burke should have won last year, while JLS' Aston Merrygold was ousted ridiculously early? When Louise Redknapp clawed her way to the 2016 final, sparking a glorious live comeback? Or Sophie Ellis-Bextor's super sophisticated Charleston in 2013, and actual Alesha Dixon's glorious win in 2007? Argh, we can't wait.

This year's roster features three pop stars: Faye Tozer of Steps and iconic dreadlocks fame, Lee Ryan from Blue and Ashley Roberts from the Pussycat Dolls. At least two of the three have been known to throw a few decent shapes in their time, (look, life isn't fair, so why should SCD be any different?) and all of them have some pretty impressive chart stats...

Faye Tozer

Faye has always struck us as the most dependable member of Steps; the mediator, the shoulder to cry on, the one who manages to strike that careful balance of telling you what you want to hear and like it actually is. It's a shame her bandmates didn't return the favour about those dreadlocks. Anyway, we're not sure how this will translate in a live ballroom dancing competition scenario, but we have a feeling she'll go far.

Number 1 singles on the Official Chart: 2 - Heartbeat/Tragedy, Stomp
Number 1 albums on the Official Chart: 3 - Steptacular, Gold, The Ultimate Collection
Biggest selling single: 1999's Heartbeat/Tragedy single has sold 1.17 million
Total UK album sales: 5.1 million

View Steps' complete Official Chart history.

Lee Ryan

Blue conveniently matching their band name and eye colour with a sponsorship deal back in 2002.

View Blue's full Official Chart history

Picture: Brian Rasic/Rex Shuttershock

Image: Rex

We double, triple checked this and no, Lee Ryan hasn't done Strictly before. His Blue bandmate Simon Webb has though, getting all the way to the final in 2014. We'd say Lee has an upper hand when it comes to getting first hand insight into the competition, but anyone who watched Lee on Celebrity Big Brother in 2014 will know he's not exactly one for listening to advice. Expect some comedy and - fingers crossed - a Rumba to All Rise.

Number 1 singles on the Official Chart: 3 with Blue - Too Close, If You Come Back, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, 0 solo.
Number 1 albums on the Official Chart: 3 - All Rise, One Love, Guilty, 0 solo.
Biggest selling single: All Rise (411,000 combined sales)
Total album sales: 4.1 million (including solo)

View Blue's complete Official Chart history.

Ashley Roberts

(Ashley is on the far right)

As a former member of the Pussycat Dolls, Ashley is easily the most experienced when it comes to dancing. She's even judged a couple of dancing competitions, ITV's Dancing On Ice and US series Dance Your Ass Off. She says the world of latin ballroom is foreign to her, but her chair dancing in the Buttons music video tells us different. Let's be honest, after 15 series, the competition would be boring if they were all amateurs. G'wan Ashley!

Number 1 singles on the Official Chart: 2 - Don't Cha, Stickwitu, 0 solo
Number 1 albums on the Official Chart: 0 with Pussycat Dolls and solo
Biggest seller: Don't Cha (822,000 combined sales)
Total album sales: 1.68 million (including solo)

View The Pussycat Dolls' complete Official Chart history.

As for a winner? Faye just about edges out the competition musically - and we think she'll be this year's dark horse. Bring on her Salsa... 💃