In my review of the first episode of the US version of Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing With the Stars, I said I didn’t know about half the contestants and I didn’t care. That wasn’t strictly true.

I care a little bit, because it’s much more fun to watch the show if you’ve got the goss on the contestants so I thought I’d introduce them. And can I just say that in the course of researching this article I actually found out who won the flaming thing so I hope you’re grateful.

“TV and Broadway star” Ian Ziering
Ah, Steve Sanders. Who didn’t love Steve in Beverly Hills 90210? Well, yeah, okay, most people didn’t love him, but I remember him fondly. Ziering (let’s not forget, his christian name is pronounced “Eye-an”, not “Ee-an”) was also the inspiration for a term coined by the world’s second-best TV website Television Without Pity – “The Ziering” defined as “the actor on a long-running show whose career will most likely die upon its series finale.” He married and divorced a Playmate. That’s probably all you need to know.

“Supermodel and actress” Paulina Porizkova
You probably recognise Paulina. She’s also written a novel about a model in Paris. In the first show she seemed pretty down to earth and funny, so it’ll be interesting to see how she turns out. She’s married to Ric Ocasek, lead singer of The Cars, who she met when she appeared in the original video for Drive.

Actor and singer Billy Ray Cyrus
“Don’t break my heart, my achy breaky heart, I just don’t dum de dum dum. Cos if you break my heart, my achy breaky heart, I might just dum de dum dum.” And that’s all I know about Billy Ray Cyrus. That and the mullet. But that’s only because I’m not down with the kids. If I was down with the kids, I’d know that he plays the father to his real life daughter in the Disney show Hannah Montana.

Talk show host Leeza Gibbons
I know one fact about Leeza Gibbons, but it’s a thrilling one. She used to be married to Chris Quinten. Chris Quinten! Brian Tilsley! How did that happen? It was leaving the UK to marry Leeza that got him written out of Corrie, when Brian was stabbed to death on the way home from a disco. Leeza used to be very well known as a TV presenter, but according to her website, her latest ventures include life coaching and a mineral based make-up system.

*NSync star Joey Fatone
Now I’m all about the boybands, but I must admit I wasn’t sure whether Joey “the fat one” Fatone was from *NSync or the Backstreet Boys. He’s from *NSync, though, and, yes, they’re the ones with the Timbersnake. So he used to be in *NSync, then they split up and he appeared in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and TV shows including Robot Chicken and Kim Possible. And then Dancing With the Stars. Bet he’s still great mates with Justin. No, really.

Hope that helps so far. More tomorrow… must sleep now.