Jennifer Grey returning as Baby in 'Dirty Dancing' sequel

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”.

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.”

Grey, 60, will also serve as an executive producer on the film, while Jonathan Levine (Long Shot/Snatched) will direct. No other details, including plot or release date, were announced.

Talking in 2016, Grey paid tribute to her co-star Patrick Swayze who sadly died in 2009.

"He smelled really good, his skin was really nice. He was really strong and he was very protective and his heart was very much in it," she said. "He was a great dancer and he was fearless. His fearlessness with my fearfulness — like his lack of Jewishness and my super Jewishness — together was like a marriage where you have two opposites. He'd do anything and I'd be scared to do anything."

The actress previously rejected the opportunity to return for ABC’s made-for-TV remake of Dirty Dancing, which starred Abigail Breslin in the ‘Baby’ role.

"I was asked to do something on that show and I was flattered because I always want to be asked because it's nice to want to be included. But for me, it would be sacrosanct for me to do it because it didn't feel appropriate to me," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. "It feels like if you're going to do your own thing, do your own thing. I wouldn't say [what role was offered] but I will tell you, it wasn't Baby!"

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

It won the best original song Oscar for (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.

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.