Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special back for 2023 with six new celebs

Strictly Come Dancing will be back this festive period with a brand new special.

The BBC has confirmed that six brand new celebrities will be taking to the ballroom for the one-off in December.

Usually airing on Christmas Day and presented by Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, Strictly Come Dancing’s festive special will feature the famous faces taking to the dancefloor competing to be crowned Christmas Champion 2023.

Each of the six couples will dance a Christmas inspired routine looking to impress the judging line up Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas ahead of fans in the studio getting their say.

The Strictly Christmas special will film on Tuesday 5 December. You can apply for free tickets to be in the audience now via the BBC website here.

The closing date to apply for tickets is 10pm on Tuesday 14 November. After that, tickets will be allocated via a random draw to all who have applied.

The line up of celebrities and their pro partners for the 2023 Christmas special are to be announced in due course.

The celebs who took part last year included radio DJ Rickie Haywood-Williams with Luba Mushtuk, actor Larry Lamb with Nadiya Bychkova, podcaster Rosie Ramsey with Neil Jones, actor George Webster with Amy Dowden, Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts with Giovanni Pernice and soap star Alexandra Mardell with Kai Widdrington.

Alongside the performances from the celebs, the special will also see a spectacular group routine from the professionals and a music guest.

In 2022 we saw former Strictly Come Dancing judge, Bruno Tonioli return to the ballroom for a special musical performance, singing his version of Don’t Leave Me This Way by The Communards.

Strictly’s Christmas specials have aired yearly since 2004, other than during 2020.