By Stephen Adams
Last Updated: 7:07PM BST 27 Aug 2008
Sergeant, 64, will take on the Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, 38, who carried the British flag at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games.
From the world of music the former S Club singer Rachel Stevens will be up against Heather Small from the band M People.
It was Sergeant's less than successful attempt to interview Margaret Thatcher during the 1990 Tory leadership contest which earned him the British Press Guild Award for the most memorable broadcast of the year.
Attempting to question the then prime minister on the steps of the British Embassy in Paris, after the inconclusive results of the first ballot, he was captured on film being knocked sideways by Sir Bernard Ingham, the Downing Street press secretary, into the path of the legendary Thatcher handbag. He beat Paul Gascoigne, the footballer, for the award who was nominated for bursting into tears during the 1990 World Cup semi-final.
Sergeant is equally at home in the world of light entertainment as he is at Westminster. Before becoming a journalist he embarked on a brief stage career, performing alongside Alan Bennett, Michael Palin and John Fortune. He has been a regular panellist with comedian Paul Merton on both Have I Got News For You and Room 101.
The crowning of the singer Alesha Dixon as the Strictly Come Dancing champion last year proved a huge hit for the BBC, reaching the Corporation's third highest audience for the year.
An average of 11.4 million viewers tuned in for the final making it the most watched BBC1 programme of the last 12 months after the Vicar of Dibley Christmas special and the Concert for Diana, Princess of Wales
Other contestants in the new 10-week series will include the rugby player Austin Healey, 34, who is following in the sporting footsteps of the cricketers Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash. Gough beat TV presenter Zoe Ball and former international athlete Colin Jackson in the final which raised £1.5 million for Children in Need.
Other names in the frame are Gary Rhodes, the celebrity chef, Teddy Sheringham, 42, a former footballer, George Clooney's ex-girlfriend Lisa Snowdon, 36, and the model Jodie Kidd, 29. Don Warrington, 55, and Cherie Lunghi, 56, who starred in a series of coffee advertisements, will be reunited on the show.
Sergeant and the rest will be trying to avoid suffering the same fate as the veteran snooker champion Willie Thorne, 54, who was voted off after just his second performance.
The judges were uncompromising in their criticism. Bruno Tonioli said he looked "like a polar bear in the Sahara" and Craig Revel Horwood describing him as "hunching like a walrus".
The success of programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing led to a government-commissioned review of dance this year which set out a long-term ambition of having a properly-qualified dance teacher in every school in England. BA BBC spokesman refused to confirm the line-up for the show, which starts on September 13. The line-up will be announced on Thursday.