BBC Strictly Come Dancing reveals first celebrity to join Christmas special

Strictly fans are counting the weeks ahead of the competition's seventh special, set to air in December - and one celebrity has already confirmed their participation.

Before he strutted into the ballroom with professional partner , lifted the Silver Star trophy with , who has recently left the competition with star .

But on Friday, December 13, and Saturday, December 14, another fresh batch of contestants will show off their dance moves for the show's Christmas special, in the hopes of succeeding to star Jamie as a winner.

Taking to the helm of the spin-off show this Monday (November 11, 2024), Fleur East announced that comedian Josh Widdicombe will be taking part in the programme next month, and his partner has already been revealed.

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The 41-year-old is best known for comedy panel show The Last Leg, where he appears alongside Adam Hills and Alex Brooker, and has fronted his own semi-autobiographical show, Josh. He has also hosted the Dave panel show Hypothetical.

This Monday, however, it was announced that he will soon have to let Karen Hauer take the lead during his upcoming stint on Strictly's festive special. Speaking about his impending participation, he shared: "I am utterly terrified this will end in humiliation and worried I’m going to be so bad I will ruin Christmas for the nation. Why have I done this?"

But could he learn to impress judges , , and , who will decide the winner of the Christmas special along with votes from the studio audience?

While this remains to be seen, viewers have been outspoken about Strictly's most recent elimination as Nancy Xu and Shayne Ward were not saved by head judge Shirley during Sunday's dance-off.

Sunday night's episode of the show saw Shayne and Nancy voted out of the competition after performing their rumba to 's Time After Time again. They were in the dance-off against , 52, and , 35, who were saved after dancing their American smooth to 's Grace Kelly for a second time.

The judges were split over who to send home, leaving head judge Shirley, 64, with the deciding vote. She chose to save radio host Wynne, rather than actor Shayne, explaining to them: "Both of you had hiccups [...] but one of you displayed a much more powerful and joyous routine for me."

The decision and some fans have . There have even been calls on social media for . Responding to a tweet proposing a petition, Shirley teased: "Where do I sign lol. Night night. X"

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