Sam Allardyce to be confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing, according to GMB's Iain Lee.

Former Everton football manager Sam Allardyce is expected to be confirmed as a contestant on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Ahead of the return of the hit BBC show, an announcement was made on social media which promised that the identities of the first three celebrities would be revealed on The One Show at 7pm on BBC One on Wednesday 31 July.

However, the suspense was short-lived when Iain Lee - who was standing in for Richard Arnold as Entertainment Reporter on Good Morning Britain - shared the names of the new Strictly stars.

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“They are going to announce the first three people on a show called The One Show. It’s going to be Sam Allardyce, Jamie Laing and Anneka Rice,” he stated.

Pointing out that he had announced the names when he wasn’t meant to, GMB anchor Ben Shepherd told Lee: “They are announcing it later and you have already announced it?”

Realising his mistake, Lee replied: “Oops, Sorry.”

All three names have been linked to the show for a while.

According to The Sun, Strictly bosses had been wanting to sign TV presenter Rice for a while.

A source recently revealed: “Strictly believe they’ve made a top signing in Anneka. She’s a TV institution and a familiar face to viewers who’ll be rooting for her.

“Anneka is in great shape and can’t wait to strut her stuff.”

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Meanwhile, Made In Chelsea’s Laing’s inclusion in this year’s competition comes after the reports that Strictly bosses decided to relax the rules on reality contestants.

“It is a surprising u-turn from the BBC and Strictly. They said previously that low-rent reality stars like Jamie would not be allowed on the show but things now seem to have changed,” the source claimed.

“There’s only so many famous faces out there so clearly they have decided enough is enough and have had to retreat a bit in order to get enough celebs for this year.”