Widdy waltzes back for Strictly special
THE ghosts of Strictly series past will hit the dance floor on Christmas Day for a festive showdown.
Six former contestants including TV presenter Caroline Flack and EastEnders actor Jake Wood will compete to take home the trophy during the fairytale-themed special.
Daily Express columnist Ann Widdecombe said she could not resist the chance to be reunited with her professional dance partner Anton Du Beke, 52, with whom she finished sixth in 2010.
“I thought it wasn’t going to happen again but the invitation came and it was one I couldn’t refuse,” she said. “I wouldn’t have done it with anyone else.”
Dragged
But Widdecombe warned that eight years have passed since she was last waltzed around the ballroom by Du Beke.
She said: “Everybody is saying to me: ‘Am I going to be dragged? Am I going to be thrown? Am I going to be spun? Am I going to be lifted?’
“All I can say is wait and see, but just remember I am eight years older. I am 71 now. I was only 63 when I was doing it before.
“It’s not quite like being thrown around when you are in your 20s. Anton never even tried this time to get me to do it in time.
“We just worked out what the moves were going to be, worked out how we were going to link them, and never mind what the dance is supposed to be.”
The former MP for Maidstone and The Weald will dance the American smooth as one of the ugly sisters from Cinderella.
Meanwhile, former JLS singer Aston Merrygold, 30, is determined to make the most of his second shot at first place when he dances a jive as the Toy Soldier from The Nutcracker with Janette Manrara.
Vowing to show the public he left too early when he was the sixth celeb booted off the show in 2017, he said: “Christmas Day, if everybody at home goes: ‘Flipping hell, we could have seen more of that last year?’ Then I will be happy.”
Merrygold also slammed Craig Revel Horwood’s “inconsistent” scoring, claiming the judge’s score of four for his final dance, a Viennese waltz, was too harsh.
He said: “Can he justify that? Anton [Du Beke] and Ruth [Langsford] got a four from him and they fell over in their routine and ended up on the floor. Was my routine bad enough that it matched someone who had fallen over?” Love Island host Caroline Flack, 39, who lifted the glitterball trophy at the end of the 12th series, will take to the floor with Gorka Marquez.
She happily revealed she has escaped the usual wardrobe of revealing, thigh-high split dresses and towering heels and will dance dressed as Pinocchio.
“It used to scare me wearing the sparkly skin-tight dresses and the high heels,” Flack said. “It’s not really who I am. Now I am in shorts, trainers and braces, and I was like, ‘Woo hoo!’.”
TV presenter Anita Rani, 41, will also return to the ballroom at Elstree Studios to dance with Neil Jones, while Jake Wood, 46, is paired with new pro Luba Mushtuk.
Cricketer Michael Vaughan, 44, completes the line up with Nadiya Bychkova.
The usual judging panel of Horwood, Darcey Bussell, Bruno Tonioli and Shirley Ballas will be on hand to score each couple, but it will be down to the studio audience to decide the winner.
●Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, BBC1 on Christmas Day at 5.30pm.