Rachel Zegler to perform acclaimed Evita role on Strictly Come Dancing

Rachel Zegler is bringing her acclaimed West End performance to Strictly Come Dancing, The Independent can exclusively reveal.

The BBC has confirmed that the actor, who recently concluded her run in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, will appear on the show to mark Icons Week – just two weeks after Wicked star Cynthia Erivo guest mentored the contestants.

Zegler, 24, has appeared on British TV before – she was interviewed on The One Show earlier this year and is set to appear on The Graham Norton Show on Friday 24 October. But Strictly will be the first time she has performed on UK television screens.

The star received rave reviews for her performance as Argentine politician Eva Perón in the musical, which was staged in the London Palladium.

The production garnered widespread attention for Zegler’s performances of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from the balcony of the theatre, in front of members of the public.

On the Strictly results show set to air on 26 October, Zegler will perform the song accompanied by a performance from two of the show’s professional dancers.

Elsewhere, the Strictly pros will pay tribute to Britney Spears in a dance featuring numerous dancers dressed as different eras of the iconic pop star.

Zegler’s breakout role was in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story, which was released in 2021. She was chosen by the Jaws filmmaker from more than 30,000 applicants following an open casting call.

Since then, Zegler has appeared in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) and Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White (2024).

In 2024, she appeared on Broadway in a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet alongside Heartstopper actor Kit Connor.

In a five-star Evita review for The Independent, theatre critic Alice Saville wrote: “Her [Zegler’s] voice has an emotive purity to it that captures the spoilt, childlike quality of the super-rich, too used to adoration to be able to contemplate life without it.

“Zegler beautifully portrays Evita as a natural performer who effortlessly acts her way out of small-town mediocrity, pretending to fall for men who can help her get gigs, then snapping out of it just as fast. When she marries Perón, her new position as the dictator’s wife is the ultimate role.”

Strictly Come Dancing returns to screens on Saturday (18 October), with Emmerdale star Lewis Cope hoping to top the leaderboard for a second week running. The celebrities who have been eliminated so far include Thomas Skinner and Ross King.