Gladiators star signs up for Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special
Gladiators star Jodie Ounsley, aka Fury, has signed up for this year's Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special next month, after Scarlett Moffatt and Melanie Blatt were confirmed to be taking part.
Jodie Ounsley has signed up for this year's Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special.
The Gladiators star, who appears as Fury in the BBC show, has become the third celebrity to join the upcoming 2025 festive instalment of the Latin and ballroom show, and she is "buzzing" to take part.
Jodie - who announced her retirement from rugby last year - said: "I’m absolutely buzzing to be doing the Strictly Christmas special."
She made sporting history as the first deaf female to play for a senior England rugby side, and was the world’s first deaf female international rugby sevens player.
Jodie will also make Strictly history as the first female rugby player to take part in any version of the BBC series.
She added: "Being the first female rugby player means a lot to me too."
But the star admitted dancing will be an entirely different "challenge" compared to playing rugby.
She said: "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!"
Jodie will go up alongside Scarlett Moffatt and Melanie Blatt in this year's Strictly Christmas special, and three more celebrities are to be announced.
Six star-studded pairings will battle it out under the Glitterball to be crowned the Strictly Christmas Champion.
This year's festive special will also have a slightly different feel to it, because co-hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will oversee the festivities for the final time, before departing the series.
Head Judge Shirley Ballas, and her fellow panellists Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke will critique the celebrity performers and their pro dance partners.
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.
