BBC Strictly Come Dancing confirms first 2025 Christmas special contestant with I’m A Celebrity past
The first celebrity has been announced
18:50, 21 Nov 2025
Strictly Come Dancing will be back this Christmas(Image: BBC/Guy Levy)
The first celebrity taking part in the 2025 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special has been revealed and it’s set to be an emotional one for one big reason.
But who will be taking to the festive-themed ballroom this year? With weeks to go until the big day itself, Strictly has confirmed comedian Josh Widdicombe will be showing his dance moves to the nation the Christmas Day.
Scarlett Moffatt has been revealed as the first celebrity set to take part, as she revealed the news in a surprise, out-of-the-blue announcement on Friday night’s (November 21) live episode of Strictly spin-off, It Takes Two, where she was appearing as a guest on the show’s Friday Panel. It was also revealed that former Gogglebox star and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here Queen of the Jungle Scarlett will be paired with Strictly’s professional dancer Vito Coppola, who competed in the main series this year with Ellie Goldstein, when she enters the Strictly Christmas ballroom this December
Scarlett is a presenter and TV personality, who first rose to fame alongside her family on Gogglebox before going on to win I’m A Celebrity in 2016. As a presenter, her work includes six series of the BBC Sounds podcast Scarlett Moffatt Wants To Believe, alongside Streetmate, the Channel 4 documentary Britain’s Tourette’s Mystery: Scarlett Moffatt Investigates, and 30 episodes of the cookery show Love Bites.
Other television work includes multiple series of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, I’m A Celebrity: Extra Camp, and the panel show Celebability, plus Crufts Extra and Scarlett Moffatt’s Driving School. Scarlett has published two books: the Sunday Times Number One bestseller Scarlett Says, and Me Life Story: Sofa So Good.
Scarlett will be taking to the Strictly dance floor this Christmas
Scarlett has said of joining the show: “Strictly has always held a special place in my heart, so being part of the Christmas Special feels truly magical. It’s the show that brings everyone together around the TV, and being part of that is a genuine personal and career highlight. I’m sure it’ll also introduce me to a few muscles I didn’t know I had. I can’t wait to live my best life on that dancefloor.”
This year’s Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special will see six couples battle it out under the glitterball to be crowned the Strictly Christmas Champion.
Strictly hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will oversee the festivities for their final time, having announced their plans to leave the show at the end of the current series. The show will mark their final-ever episode, while their last live appearance in the ballroom will be the 2025 series final on December 20.
Meanwhile, head judge Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke will all be on hand to dish out sleigh-loads of advice, Christmas cheer and the odd lump of coal – before the voting studio audience will decide who wins. Expect a winter wonderland full of festive magic, dazzling group dances, live music and more in what will be the perfect antidote to the post-Christmas Dinner slump.
The next celebrity taking part in the 2025 Strictly Christmas special will be announced this Monday (November 25) on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show with Scott Mills.
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.
