Jennifer Grey set to return for Dirty Dancing sequel

The 81st Academy Awards – Arrivals – Los Angeles

Jennifer Grey is set to star in a sequel to classic romantic drama Dirty Dancing, it has been announced.

The actress played Frances “Baby” Houseman in the 1987 film, which saw her fall in love with Patrick Swayze’s hunky dancing instructor Johnny Castle at a holiday resort.

Rumours of a follow-up had been swirling and studio Lionsgate has now confirmed “one of the worst kept secrets in Hollywood”.

Jennifer Grey is set to return for a Dirty Dancing sequel (Ian West/PA)

CEO Jon Feltheimer said: “It will be exactly the kind of romantic, nostalgic movie that the franchise’s fans have been waiting for and that have made it the biggest-selling library title in the company’s history.”

Gray, 60, will also serve as an executive producer on the film, while Jonathan Levine will direct. No other details, including plot or release date, were announced.

Dirty Dancing was hugely successful upon release and grossed more than 214 million dollars (about £163 million) at the global box office.

It won the best original song Oscar for (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.

Lionsgate also put out the 2004 prequel Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, starring Diego Luna and Romola Garai, but it failed to achieve the same success as the original.

Swayze died aged 57 in 2009 after being diagnosed with cancer.