Maura Higgins will dance with Strictly icon Shirley Ballas' son Mark on the upcoming series of Dancing With The Stars, it has been revealed today.

The Love Island star, 35, who was recently announced as the host of the Blind Date reboot, is already well acquainted with the professional dancer.

Maura and Mark appeared on the U.S. version of Celebrity Traitors earlier this year and are now set to embark on a new challenge together.

The TV personality shared the announcement on her Instagram page, posting a picture of herself in a bedazzled pink leotard posing with Mark. 

Alongside the image she wrote: 'TEAM TINK (four leaf clover emoji)'.

Maura's pals, including her Love Island alum, rushed to the comments section to share their well wishes following the news.

Amber Davies and Tasha Ghouri, who both appeared on the ITV2, shared congratulatory messages underneath her announcement. 

The Season 35 cast of Dancing with the Stars has officially been revealed, with 16 celebrities set to take to the ballroom alongside their professional partners.

Julia Stiles will dance with Ezra Sosa, while Jenna Dewan is paired with Val Chmerkovskiy. Tatyana Ali will compete with Jan Ravnik, and Taylor Hanson will be partnered with Britt Stewart.

Ezra Frech will dance with Daniella Karagach, while Amber Glenn is paired with Pasha Pashkov. Connor Wood will compete alongside Rylee Arnold, and Sarah Jane Nader will dance with Hailey Bills.

Tyler Cameron will be partnered with Sharna Burgess, while Giada De Laurentiis will take on the competition with Alan Bersten. Harry Shum Jr. is paired with Jenna Johnson, and Conner Leavitt will dance with Adele Zaikman.

Guillermo Rodriguez will compete with Witney Carson, Maura Higgins is partnered with Mark Ballas, Ciara Miller will dance with Brandon Armstrong, and Jackson Olson rounds out the cast alongside Emma Slater.

Maura appears to have already grown close to judge Bruno Tonioli, as they enjoyed a night out together on Tuesday evening.

The reality star linked arms with Bruno as they headed to dinner, ahead of the Good Morning America cast reveal the following day.

Maura looked incredible in a black leather dress and knee-high boots, while her brunette locks were worn slicked back with shades. 

Maura looked excited to get started as she arrived for the first day of Dancing With The Stars rehearsals last month.

The Irish star, who first found fame in the UK on Love Island, beamed and waved at fans gathered outside a Los Angeles dance studio.

While Maura has shared her excitement at the chance to appear on the hit US show, a spin off of Strictly, she has already sparked controversy by revealing the one professional dancer she doesn't want to be paired with. 

Maura shared her hopes that she won't have to face the Russian professional dancer Gleb Savchenko because she doesn't agree with the 'way he talks about women'.

She said she will be remaining fiercely 'loyal' to her best pal and former DWTS contestant Brooks Nader who dated Gleb.

Gleb has since responded to Maura, who shot to fame in the US earlier this year with her appearance on The Traitors, explaining he has 'never heard' of the star and insisted he will not 'lose any sleep over the opinion of someone I've never met'.

In a statement to the Daily Mail he said: 'Until I was asked to comment on this story, I'd genuinely never heard of this girl, Maura, so I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over the opinions of someone I've never met.

'It's odd to publicly attack someone you've never even met, but if that's how she wants to make headlines before the show starts, that's her choice. 

'I'll stay focused and leave the unnecessary drama to everyone else.' 

Gleb and Brooks endured a 'messy' split after they sparked a romance during their time partnered on the show in 2024. 

Maura told E! News: 'I'd be happy with anyone but Gleb. That's only because I'm loyal and I'm friends with Brooks [Nader].'  

She added: 'I don't really like the way he speaks about women. I don't really want to spend all my time with someone like that. I'm like, no thank you.'

Maura is hoping she will instead be paired with Valentin Chmerkovskiy after previously dancing with him for a promo video. 

Maura's comments about Gleb come after he branded his ex-girlfriend Brooks 'the worst sex' he has ever had. 

'When I dated her, it was pretty bad. Probably the worst sex of my life' the ballroom dancer claimed to Dakota Mortensen, ex of reality TV star Taylor Frankie Paul. 

Gleb also claimed the Louisiana-born beauty often took things to a rough level that he was not comfortable with.

They began seeing one another in the fall of 2024 when they were partners on Dancing With the Stars, with it quickly becoming apparent that a romance was forming.

But Brooks intimated in an October 2024 TikTok clip that they had parted ways.  

'Gleb got way too comfortable, especially in the amount of time he was spending at Brooks’ home, to a point it had begun to concern Brooks’ people and family close to her,' an insider told US Weekly of the couple's split in the fall of 2024.

Things appeared on track again the next month, when Brooks welcomed Gleb to her family's Thanksgiving dinner. 

The duo parted ways again in April last year, with Gleb telling Page Six he was caught off-guard by their split.