Strictly Come Dancing Adds Gladiators Star To Christmas Special Line-Up

Strictly Come Dancing bosses have confirmed the third celebrity who’ll be performing in this year’s festive special.

On Monday night, it was announced that Gladiators star Jodie Ounsley – better known to fans of the BBC series as “Fury” – had been added to the line-up of this year’s festive episode, which will air on Christmas Day.

Before being cast on Gladiators, Jodie was a professional rugby player, who made history as both the first deaf female player on a senior England rugby side, and the world’s first deaf female international rugby sevens player.

In the Christmas special, she’ll be performing alongside Neil Jones, who did not receive a celebrity partner on this year’s series of Strictly.

Jodie enthused: “I’m absolutely buzzing to be doing the Strictly Christmas Special. Being the first female rugby player means a lot to me too.

“I honestly can’t wait to get stuck in, I’m used to smashing into people so this is definitely going to be a challenge!”

Since Gladiators was rebooted in 2024, Jodie is now the third member of its cast to hit the Strictly dance floor.

Last year, Montell “Fire” Douglas competed in the main series, while Harry “Nitro” Aikines-Aryeetey took part in the 2024 Christmas special, before being added to the line-up of the latest season of Strictly.

Joining Jodie in the 2025 Christmas special will be former Gogglebox favourite Scarlett Douglas and All Saints singer Melanie Blatt.

This year’s Christmas Day episode is a big one, as it will mark Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s final time presenting Strictly, after announcing last month that they were both stepping down as hosts.

Before all that, though, six couples now remain in the current series of Strictly Come Dancing, with the remaining pairs taking part in a unique challenge during Saturday’s live show that has the potential to turn the leaderboard on its head.