The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special is back! As the ballroom is once again transformed into a magical winter wonderland, the first celebrity behind the doors of this year’s all-star advent calendar has been revealed.

In Strictly: It Takes Two on BBC Two and iPlayer, Josh Widdicombe was announced as the first celebrity included in the 2024 Christmas line-up. He will be paired with Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Karen Hauer.

Expect festive cheer, jingle bells, mistletoe madness, dazzling decorations and six celebrities sleighing to Elstree in a bid to be crowned Strictly Christmas Champion 2024.

Josh is a comedian, podcaster, and author.

Comedian Josh Widdicombe has starred in over thirty series of Channel 4’s The Last Leg as team captain. Josh co-hosts the hit podcast Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and has written two Sunday Times bestselling books. He has appeared on multiple comedy shows including Smart TV, QI, A League Of Their Own, Have I Got News For You and Taskmaster to name a few. He performed on stage at the Royal Albert Hall for The Royal Variety Performance and hosted Live At The Apollo.

Josh Widdicombe says: “I’m absolutely terrified this will end in humiliation and I’m worried I’ll be so bad that I’ll ruin Christmas for the nation. Why have I done this?

In the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special, produced by BBC Studios, each of the six couples will perform a festive routine in the hope of impressing the judges, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and head judge Shirley Ballas, and to the voting studio audience. But who will emerge as the Christmas star of the night and lift the coveted Christmas trophy?

The remaining Christmas line-up will be announced on Strictly: It Takes Two in due course.

Strictly Come Dancing is a BBC Studios entertainment production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, commissioned by Kalpna Patel-Knight, Director of BBC Entertainment. The executive producer of BBC Studios is Sarah James, the Christmas series editor is Kim Allinson and the series editors are Nicola Fitzgerald and Jack Gledhill and the series producers are Ciara Murray and Joe Turner. The BBC’s senior commissioning editor is Jo Wallace.

The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day.

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