Strictly Come Dancing has announced two brand new celebrity dance novices who’ll be taking part in this year’s Christmas special.
While Strictly’s annual festive episode had to take a year off last year due to the pandemic, it’s been confirmed the spectacular will be going ahead as usual on Christmas Day in 2021, with two members of the cast having now been confirmed.
First Dates staple Fred Sirieix will be one of the stars battling it out for the Silver Star trophy this year, where he’ll dance with Strictly pro Dianne Buswell.
“I got the phone call and I was as excited as I was scared,” he said during Monday’s edition of It Takes Two. “Because I was so scared I thought I have got to do it. There is no way I can turn this down. I have got to do it.”
Joining him will be Jay Blades, best known as the host of The Repair Shop.
Jay said: “It is probably one of the things I love doing most, which is challenging myself and doing something I have never done before.
“I could do a dad dance but I can’t do full dancing. So let’s dive in there and have a go.”
He’ll be performing alongside Strictly pro Luba Mushtuk.
Luba was one of the Strictly pros not given a celebrity partner in 2021, while Dianne competed with Robert Webb until the Peep Show actor withdrew from the series on medical grounds.
The rest of the Christmas special line-up will be announced “in due course”.
Six couples remain in the current series of Strictly, following McFly singer Tom Fletcher’s Musicals Week elimination in Sunday night’s results show.
Find out how they all get on when Strictly returns on Saturday night at 6.55pm on BBC One.