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Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2014: Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Rachel Stevens among returning celebrities

Sir Bruce Forsyth will be coming out of retirement to host with Tess Daly

Thursday 13 November 2014 14:21 GMT

Strictly Come Dancing will be back for a Christmas special on Christmas Day (BBC)

Singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, S Club 7's Rachel Stevens and Olympic gymnast Louis Smith are among six Strictly Come Dancing contestants reuniting for the annual Christmas Special.

Actress Lisa Riley, TV presenter Chris Hollins and astrologer Russell Grant will also be making their comebacks, as will long-serving host Sir Bruce Forsyth who returns to the ballroom from retirement to present alongside Tess Daly on BBC One.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Show all 12

1/12Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Caroline Flack

Caroline Flack triumphed ahead of Frankie Bridge, Mark Wright and Simon Webbe to lift the 2014 Glitter Ball trophy with Pasha Kovalev.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Abbey Clancey

Model Abbey Clancy won the 2013 series with her dance partner Aljaz Skorjanec.

BBC

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Louis Smith

Last year's winner was Olympic gymnastics bronze medallist Louis Smith, who took part fresh from the glory of the London games. He won Strictly with Flavia Cacace after Girls Aloud's Kimberley Walsh, Denise Van Outen and Danni Harmer challenged him in the final.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Harry Judd

McFly drummer Harry Judd and his partner Aliona Vilani took the trophy in 2011 after seeing off competition from Jason Donavan. He had previously won a Children in Need special of Strictly, in which he beat The Saturdays' Rochelle Wiseman to the title.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Kara Tointon

EastEnders star Kara Tointon was the second actress to win Strictly in 2010, partnered with debut professional Artem Chigvintsev. She has appeared in Pygmalion in the West End with Rupert Everett.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Chris Hollins

News presenter and sportsman Chris Hollins won in 2009 with Ola Jordan to beat actor Ricky Whittle to the crown. He managed to avoid the dance-off for the entirety of his run. He presented the BBC Breakfast sports news while appearing on Strictly.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Tom Chambers

Holby City actor Tom Chambers won in 2008 with Camilla Dallerup, who was competing in her last series of the show. Model Lisa Snowdon and S Club star Rachel Stevens lost out in the final. He currently stars in the West End.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Alesha Dixon

Singer and former Strictly judge Alesha Dixon was crowned champion of the 5th series in 2007. She won with Matthew Cutler after a close final with Matt Di Angelo. She holds the record for the highest average score in Strictly history with 36.5, despite never achieving a perfect 40 points. She joined the judging panel from 2009 to 2011 and is now on Britain's Got Talent.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Mark Ramprakash

Proving that cricketers can flourish on Strictly, Mark Ramprakash followed Darren Gough's footsteps to win Strictly in 2006 with dance partner Karen Hardy. Rugby player Matt Dawson lost out to him in the final.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Darren Gough

Cricketer Darren Gough won the third series with Lilia Kopylova, defeating athlete Colin Jackson and presenter Zoe Ball. Gough never finished top of the judges' leaderboard but was still crowned champion by the public! He now co-presents a talkSPORT radio show.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Jill Halfpenny

EastEnders actress Jill Halfpenny won the second 2004 series with Darren Bennett after beating off competition from comedian Julian Clary and Olympian Denise Lewis. She still holds the highest score for a Jive in Strictly history, scoring the full 40 points from the judges. She now has a West End theatre career.

Strictly Come Dancing past winners

Natasha Kaplinsky

Newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky was the first winner to lift the glitterball trophy with her dance partner Brendan Cole in 2004, beating EastEnders actor Christopher Parker in the final.

There will be a pantomime theme to the show, meaning all the stars will take on iconic roles from some of our favourite pantos.

Judges Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell and Bruno Tonioli will be joining in with some Christmas cheer (and probably Scrooge moments from Craig), as will six of the professional dancers.

Aljaz Skorjanec, Robin Windsor and Tristan MacManus will partner the female celebrities, while Aliona Vilani, Iveta Lukosiute and Joanne Clifton will dance with the males.

The pairings are:

Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Aljaž Skorjanec

Lisa Riley and Robin Windsor

Rachel Stevens and Tristan MacManus

Louis Smith and Aliona Vilani

Chris Hollins and Iveta Lukosiute

Russell Grant and Joanne Clifton

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