Pixie Lott has been confirmed as the 11th celebrity taking part in this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The 23-year-old singer-songwriter, model and actress gave the news via the BBC's official @bbcstrictly Twitter feed following a series of cryptic clues posted to her 1.65-million followers on social media.

She began by tweeting: "Ahh, got something very special to reveal soon cats..." and followed with "So excited! Some news is coming, can't wait to tell you! Announcement soon at 2.30pm UK time ... so watch this space for news," before confirming her participation on the show.

She said: "I'm so excited to be doing Strictly, it's going to be a lot of fun. I always want to push myself as a performer so can't wait to learn the routines."

As a young actress she appeared in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium and as Louisa von Trapp in BBC One's Celebrate The Sound Of Music before embarking on her successful music career.

She joins singers Simon Webbe and Frankie Bridge, tennis matriarch Judy Murray, presenter Alison Hammond, former rugby player Thom Evans, Mark Wright, who shot to fame on reality show The Only Way Is Essex, actress Sunetra Sarker, EastEnders bad boy Jake Wood, Bafta-winning naturalist Steve Backshall and Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills in this year's battle for the ballroom. Three more celebrities are still to be confirmed.

The new series will be the first one without veteran host Sir Bruce Forsyth, with Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman sharing the presenting job.