Strictly Come Dancing: Christmas Special 2025
5:30 pm - 6:45 pm, Thursday, December 25 on BBC One London HD (101)
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About this Broadcast
Christmas Special 2025
Season 1, Episode 1
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman make one last Strictly appearance for the annual festive show, which sees celebrities Scarlett Moffatt, Melanie Blatt, Brian McFadden, Babatunde Aléshé, Nicholas Bailey and Jodie Ounsley - aka Gladiator Fury - entering the ballroom for a one-off turn around the floor. There's also a performance by boy band Blue, the professionals show the amateurs how it's done with a couple of yuletide routines and judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke give their thoughts on the dances
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General
Show/Game Show
Cast & Crew
Tess Daly
(Host)
Claudia Winkleman
(Host)
Shirley Ballas
(Judge)
Craig Revel Horwood
(Judge)
Motsi Mabuse
(Judge)
Anton Du Beke
(Judge)
Brian McFadden
(Contestant)
Jodie Ounsley
(Contestant)
Melanie Blatt
(Contestant)
Nicholas Bailey
(Contestant)
Scarlett Moffatt
(Contestant)
Blue
(Musical guest)
Nicola Fitzgerald
(Series editor)
Kim Allinson
(Series editor)
Sarah James
(Executive producer)
More Information
Did You Know..
Tess Daly
(Host)
Born:
March 04, 1969
in
Derbyshire.
Best Known For:
Strictly Come Dancing.
Early-life:
Helen Elizabeth Daly was born in Stockport on March 4, 1969, and grew up in Birch Vale near New Mills, Derbyshire. She went to Hayfield Primary School and New Mills Secondary school. She has a younger sister, Karen. After finishing her A Levels, Tess became a model and appeared in magazines and pop videos, including two for Duran Duran.
Career:
Daly made her small-screen debut in 2000 as the host of the Find Me a Model slot on The Big Breakfast. She went on to present shows including Singled Out, Smash Hits TV, SMTV Live (with Brian Dowling), Back to Reality, and the first series of Make Me a Supermodel. Her big break came in 2004 when she began co-presenting Strictly Come Dancing with Bruce Forsyth. She also co-hosted Just the two of Us in 2006 with her husband, Vernon Kay. She became the main host of Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.
Quote:
On her modelling career: "I saw it all - eating disorders, drugs, young girls sitting on the knees of old, rich guys in nightclubs. A lot of it turned my stomach."
Trivia:
She released her first novel, The Camera Never Lies, in 2011.
Claudia Winkleman
(Host)
Born:
January 15, 1972
in
London
Best Known For:
Strictly Come Dancing, and the BBC's flagship Film programme.
Early-life:
Claudia Anne Winkleman was born in London on January 15, 1972, to former Sunday Express editor Eve Pollard and publisher Barry Winkleman. Her parents split when she was three, and subsequently remarried. Her half-sister, Sophie, is an actress, and she also has a half-brother called Nicholas. Claudia grew up in the London suburb of Hampstead and attended the City of London School for Girls before studying art history at Cambridge. She considered pursuing a career as a gallery curator, encouraged by her mother who thought the media could be tough on women, but instead ended up working on TV.
Career:
Winkleman's TV career began with a job on the regional discussion programme Central Today in 1991, before graduating to Holiday on BBC One and ITV's This Morning. She worked on the infamous L!ve TV and various other digital channels before joining BBC Three's Liquid News in 2002. She also presented a Fame Academy spin-off series, and between 2004 and 2010, she presented Strictly Come Dancing's daily sister show, It Takes Two. Since then, she's fronted Art School, the Eurovision Dance Contest and part of the Sports Relief coverage, as well as her own vehicles, such as King Of. She currently co-hosts the Film programme and since 2013, she has presented The Great British Sewing Bee for BBC Two. After previously filling in as a co-host on Strictly Come Dancing when Bruce Forsyth was unavailable, she became the full-time co-host alongside Tess Daly in 2014.
Quote:
On her parents: "Nepotism is a magnificent thing. Not in the sense of 'Don't worry, love, I'll get you a job', but because they can give you advice."
Trivia:
Winkleman has lent her support to a number of charities, including Comic Relief and Refuge.
Shirley Ballas
(Judge)
Craig Revel Horwood
(Judge)
Born:
January 04, 1965
in
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Best Known For:
Being a judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
Early-life:
Born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, on January 4, 1965. He has four siblings. Their father was in the Australian navy, so the family moved around a lot. At the age of 17, he made ends meet by performing as a drag queen. He went on to become a dancer in Melbourne and appeared in a number of productions, including West Side Story, the Danny La Rue Show, La Cage Aux Folles and Ladies Night. He also featured in numerous TV commercials in Australia, notably for KFC, before moving to the UK to further his dance career in 1989.
Career:
Horwood's West End credits include roles in Cats, Miss Saigon and Crazy for You. As a choreographer, he has worked on West Side Story, Martin Guerre and Spend Spend Spend, and as a director on Sunset Boulevard, Chess, the live tour of Strictly Come Dancing, and the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He became a household name in 2004 after becoming a member of the judging panel on Strictly Come Dancing. He has a reputation for awarding the lowest marks of all the judges. Since 2009, he has been a regular on the pantomime circuit and in 2011 became a British citizen.
Quote:
"When I'm watching something I'm professional about it. I'm not there to have a good time. I'm there to judge a competition."
Trivia:
In 2009, he became a patron of the National Osteoporosis Society. He's had two lots of plastic surgery - one op on his nose, the second to get rid of 'manboobs'.
Motsi Mabuse
(Judge)
Anton Du Beke
(Judge)
(Contestant)
Brian McFadden
(Contestant)
Born:
April 12, 1980
in
Dublin
Best Known For:
Being a member of Westlife.
Early-life:
Brian Nicholas McFadden was born in Dublin on April 12, 1980. With his sister Susan, he attended the Billie Barry Stage School in Dublin. His big break came in 1998 when he successfully auditioned for a place in boy band Westlife.
Career:
With McFadden as part of the group, Westlife released four studio albums and a greatest hits album that all went to number one in Ireland. In March 2004, he left the group to concentrate on solo projects. He released his debut album later the same year. Despite never achieving the same success he enjoyed with Westlife, McFadden has continued to record songs. His fourth solo album, The Irish Connection, was released in March 2013. Away from music, he became a judge on Australia's Got Talent in 2010 and he has hosted Channel 5 dating game show Stand By Your Man and ITV series Who's Doing the Dishes? In 2015, he appeared in talent show Get Your Act Together, and in early 2016, he was a contestant on Channel 4's sporting reality show The Jump.
Quote:
"I have had many incredible moments in my career. But I wake up everyday and believe the greatest moments are yet to come."
Trivia:
In 2013, McFadden and his then wife Vogue Williams came second on ITV dancing show Stepping Out.
Jodie Ounsley
(Contestant)
Melanie Blatt
(Contestant)
Nicholas Bailey
(Contestant)
Scarlett Moffatt
(Contestant)
Blue
(Musical guest)
Nicola Fitzgerald
(Series editor)
Kim Allinson
(Series editor)
Sarah James
(Executive producer)
