Strictly Come Dancing has confirmed that the Christmas special will be back again for 2021 – and, better yet, the show has already confirmed its first two celebrity couples!
Rylan Clark-Neal confirmed the news on Monday night's Strictly: It Takes Two before teasing the names of the first two celebrities taking part with a series of clues hidden in the studio: furniture polish and sandpaper, and a waiter's tray and a red rose.
"It's official – the Strictly Christmas special is coming back to your screens, guys," Rylan shared. "And I'm going to be exclusively revealing the first two celebs taking part."
First up, it was confirmed that furniture restorer, presenter and The Repair Shop star Jay Blades would be heading to the festive dance floor alongside professional partner Luba Mushtuk.
"It's probably one of the things I love doing the most, which is challenging myself – to do something that I've never done before," Jay reflected on his decision to do the show.
"I can do a dad dance but I can't do formal dancing, so let's dive in there and have a go."
The couple have already had a couple of rehearsals, and while Luba was determined that Jay should go in there and have fun, Jay found that the early dance experience was already giving him more than a few unusual aches and pains.
"I never knew I had muscles in my toes," Jay shared. "My toes are killing me! Did you know you have muscles in your toes? It's unbelievable!"
Later on in It Takes Two, Rylan confirmed the second celebrity who'd be taking part, and after teasing another clue in the form of a travel guide, it was confirmed that the next celebrity heading to the dance floor was none other than First Dates star Fred Sirieix.
Fred will be paired with professional dancer Dianne Buswell, and the couple joined Rylan in the studio to talk about the early days of training.
"I got the phone call and I was as excited as I was scared," Fred shared. "I was so scared, I thought, 'I've got to do it. There's no way I can turn this down.'"
Asked about how training has been going, Dianne shared that it's "really good" so far.
"Fred works extremely hard and, like I say, he's having so much fun," she added. "I said, 'This is the perfect Christmas partner because he's bringing me so much joy. I feel like I'm dancing to a Christmas tune and I'm dancing with you, so I'm very merry."
Another star of the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2021 will be revealed on Strictly: It Takes Two tomorrow night.
Strictly Come Dancing 2021 airs on Saturday nights on BBC One, with results shows every Sunday. Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights at 6.30pm on BBC Two.
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