Strictly Christmas special ‘will feature former contestants’

This year’s Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special will repeatedly feature former contestants as the participating celebrities.

The one-off festive special has been a firm fixture of BBC One’s Christmas Day schedule for more than two decades and is typically filmed a few weeks in advance.

Usually the special features a group of new celebrities taking part in one-off dances, although the first six Christmas shows from 2004 to 2009 had former contestants returning to the dancefloor.

According to The Sun, the BBC is returning to that format this year in the hopes that it will provide a more attractive prospect for viewers.

“Bosses are really keen to take Strictly back to what made it such a huge success in the first place,” a source told the newspaper.

“The show needs to remind viewers of the magic it once had, and bringing back some familiar faces from popular previous series is a way of doing that.

“They know how much affection viewers have for some of the celebrities who have taken part over the years and there are people who really loved their experience on Strictly, formed lifelong friendships and still have a huge soft spot for the programme. 

“Bringing some of those faces back is a brilliant way of reconnecting with the Strictly audience.”

This year’s Strictly Christmas special will be recorded on Tuesday, December 8.