Strictly Come Dancing announces six new celebrity contestants for Christmas special

Bringing the festivities to the dancefloor, the BBC has announced this year’s Christmas Special with six new celebrities set to take centre stage

Strictly Come Dancing has reached its halfway point as the series continues in a heated competition of salsa, samba, ballroom and more.

Bringing the festivities to the dancefloor, the BBC has announced this year’s Christmas Special with six new celebrities set to take centre stage.

“This year six new celebrities will take to the floor and compete to become the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas champion 2023,” the BBC says on its website.

The special episode will air on Christmas day and is due to be filmed at the start of December. Fans can also apply to be present during the filming of the show.

“Marking the end of the latest incredible series of sparkles and show-stopping moments, Strictly returns with a special one-off programme on Christmas Day, recording in advance on Tues 5 Dec. Apply until 10pm on 14 Nov for your chance to be there!,” BBC Shows and Tours wrote on X/Twitter.

During the show, the six couples will perform a Christmas-inspired routine and aim to impress the judges. The show will be presented by Strictly hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly and is due to air on 25 December.

If fans wish to attend the filming of the show, they can apply for free tickets to be in the audience on the BBC website.

The closing date to apply for tickets is 10pm on Tuesday 14 November and tickets will be allocated in a random draw.

Fans of the show can apply for a maximum of one pair of tickets and if successful, “tickets are non-transferable,” meaning that it “cannot be transferred to another date or a person who is not named on the ticket.”

Last year’s Christmas special started with a group routine to a festive medley of Let It Snow, The Nutcracker Suite and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, featuring the celebrities and their professional partners.

Each couple then took to the dance floor to perform their individual seasonal routines.

Viewers were dazzled with performances from duo DJ Rickie Haywood-Williams with Luba Mushtuk, actor Larry Lamb with Nadiya Bychkova, podcaster Rosie Ramsey with Neil Jones, actor George Webster with Amy Dowden, Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts with Giovanni Pernice and soap star Alexandra Mardell with Kai Widdrington.

Mardell was crowned the winner alongside Widdrington as they wowed the judged and the studio with their Quickstep to ‘Sleigh Ride’ by The Ronettes before lifting the Strictly Silver Star trophy.

The line-up for this year’s Christmas special is yet to be announced.