{"id":1027,"date":"2025-11-25T10:20:57","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T10:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=1027"},"modified":"2025-11-25T10:20:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T10:20:57","slug":"whos-in-the-strictly-2025-christmas-special-gladiators-star-confirmed-as-third-contestant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=1027","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s in the Strictly 2025 Christmas special? Gladiators star confirmed as third contestant"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While\u00a0Strictly Come Dancing<\/a>\u00a0is in full swing \u2013 with injuries here, there, and everywhere \u2013 the\u00a0Christmas<\/a>\u00a0special isn\u2019t far away, and a third celebrity has just been announced for the star-studded lineup.<\/p>\n

Gladiators<\/a>\u00a0star Jodie Ounsley \u2013 aka Fury \u2013 joins\u00a0Gogglebox<\/a>\u00a0star\u00a0Scarlett Moffatt<\/a>\u00a0in Strictly\u2019s festive cast, as well as All Saints singer\u00a0Melanie Blatt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The remaining three celebrities will be announced this coming week on Strictly: It Takes Two at 6:30pm.<\/p>\n

This year, six couples will dance their hearts out to be in with a chance of becoming the Strictly Christmas Champion, under the watchful gaze of judges\u00a0Shirley Ballas<\/a>,\u00a0Craig Revel Horwood<\/a>,\u00a0Motsi Mabuse<\/a>, and\u00a0Anton Du Beke<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It will be long-time hosts\u00a0Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly\u2019s last hurrah<\/a>\u00a0on the show, after they announced they would be stepping away from the series earlier this year.<\/p>\n

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The Christmas special will air on Christmas Day, but will be recorded ahead of time. Last year, drag queen Tayce and her pro Kai Widdrington were victorious.<\/p>\n

Christmas contestants have also become known to sign up for the main series, such as Jamie Borthwick in 2024 and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey in 2025, so perhaps these faces will reappear in the future.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s in the Strictly 2025 Christmas special? Here are the confirmed names so far\u2026<\/p>\n

Jodie Ounsley<\/h2>\n

Jodie Ounsley is the third contestant confirmed for this year\u2019s Strictly Christmas special, although you might know her best as Fury.<\/p>\n

The Gladiators star, 24, joined the BBC\u2019s revival of the hit programme in 2024.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also known for her interviewing work during Channel 4\u2019s coverage of the Paralympic Games in Paris, and she played rugby union for Premier 15s side Exeter Chiefs Women as a winger.<\/p>\n

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She made history in 2019, becoming the first deaf female rugby player to play for a senior England side. Not only that, but she was the world\u2019s very first deaf female rugby sevens international.<\/p>\n

Oh, and to top it all off, there\u2019s no need to worry about her struggling with stamina in Strictly training, as she\u2019s also a former British-Brazilian jiu-jitsu champ.<\/p>\n

Speaking on It Takes Two about signing up for the Christmas episode, Jodie told viewers: \u2018If you\u2019ve seen me as a Gladiator or as a rugby player, I\u2019m serious, I\u2019m powerful, I don\u2019t mess around, but with this, I really just want to be able to let go and just have fun with it.\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been confirmed that she will be dancing with professional Neil Jones.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m chuffed, because obviously he\u2019s an amazing dancer, but he just gets into character, and I think that\u2019s exactly what I need, just us together, hopefully I\u2019ll be flying,\u2019 said Jodie.<\/p>\n

Melanie Blatt<\/h2>\n

Melanie Blatt was the second star to be announced for the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special.<\/p>\n

As part of the 90s band All Saints \u2013 alongside original members Shaznay Lewis and Simone Rainford \u2013 Melanie had five UK number one hit singles and won two Brit awards, selling over 10million albums worldwide.<\/p>\n

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In recent years, she\u2019s pivoted to cooking, as Melanie founded a gourmet burger business and appeared as a\u00a0Celebrity MasterChef<\/a>\u00a0finalist.<\/p>\n

She was also in the second series of Celebrity Race Across the World and starred in\u00a0Taskmaster<\/a>\u2019s New Year Treat.<\/p>\n

On joining Strictly this Christmas, Melanie said: \u2018If you can\u2019t have a dance at Christmas, when can you?!\u2019<\/p>\n

Melanie will be paired with Kai Widdrington, whose first Strictly partner was AJ Odudu in 2021. He\u2019s since been partnered with Angela Rippon and, this series, was recently eliminated with Vicky Pattison.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m so excited to meet Kai and start training to make this a dance to remember,\u2019 Melanie shared.<\/p>\n

Scarlett Moffatt<\/h2>\n

Former\u00a0Saturday Night Takeaway<\/a>\u00a0presenter Scarlett Moffatt, 35, will be paired with\u00a0Vito Coppola<\/a>, who won Strictly\u2019s main series in 2023 with\u00a0Ellie Leach<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She revealed the news during a live It Takes Two episode on\u00a0BBC<\/a>\u00a0Two, appearing as a guest on the Friday panel.<\/p>\n

Scarlett said of her casting: \u2018Strictly has always held a special place in my heart, so being part of the Christmas special feels truly magical.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s the show that brings everyone together around the TV, and being part of that is a genuine personal and career highlight.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll also introduce me to a few muscles I didn\u2019t know I had. I can\u2019t wait to live my best life on that dancefloor.\u2019<\/p>\n

Having shot to fame as a sofa critic alongside her parents on Gogglebox on Channel 4, Scarlett has acquired plenty of TV experience in the years since.<\/p>\n

The Geordie star captured the hearts of the nation during the 2016 series of I\u2019m A Celebrity\u2026 Get Me Out Of Here!, which she won.<\/p>\n

Presenting-wise, her work includes six series of the BBC Sounds podcast Scarlett Moffatt Wants to Believe, alongside Streetmate, the Channel 4 documentary Britain\u2019s Tourette\u2019s Mystery: Scarlett Moffatt Investigates, and 30 episodes of the cookery show Love Bites.<\/p>\n

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You might have also seen her on TV alongside Ant and Dec for I\u2019m A Celebrity: Extra Camp, on the panel show Celebability, or on Crufts Extra.<\/p>\n

Speaking to host Janette Manrara on It Takes Two, Scarlett was bursting with excitement that the secret was finally out<\/p>\n

\u2018I just keep crying all the time,\u2019 she joked. \u2018I can say it out loud! I\u2019m so excited.\u2019<\/p>\n

She described the gig as a \u2018dream\u2019 and at the \u2018top of [her] bucket list\u2019, saying she feels that she and Vito are \u2018the same person\u2019.<\/p>\n

The new pairing have already started training for their performance, with the Christmas special involving just one dance from the celeb. Scarlett\u2019s dance style is yet to be revealed.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ve just laughed from start to finish,\u2019 Scarlett said, quipping: \u2018Every day\u2019s a school day!\u2019<\/p>\n

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  While\u00a0Strictly Come Dancing\u00a0is in full swing \u2013 with injuries here, there, and everywhere \u2013 the\u00a0Christmas\u00a0special isn\u2019t far away, and a third celebrity has just been announced for the star-studded lineup. Gladiators\u00a0star Jodie Ounsley \u2013 aka Fury \u2013 joins\u00a0Gogglebox\u00a0star\u00a0Scarlett Moffatt\u00a0in Strictly\u2019s festive cast, as well as All Saints singer\u00a0Melanie Blatt. The remaining three celebrities will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t