BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Carlos Gu gets partner as next Christmas star announced

Strictly Come Dancing has announced its next Christmas star with the news revealed on Friday night's It Takes Two.

During the latest episode, Vogue Williams was announced as the third celebrity included in the 2024 festive line-up and she will be paired with professional dancer Carlus Gu.

Talking about the exciting news, Vogue, 39, said: "I’m so excited to join the Strictly family! Carlos would have more of a chance of winning a Nobel prize than turning me into a good dancer but I am determined to try my very best! I’m loving it so far, bring on the Ballroom floor."

In the Special, each of the six couples will perform a festive fuelled routine in the hope of impressing the judges - Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Head Judge - as well as the voting studio audience. But who will lift the sought after Christmas trophy?

So far Vogue, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Tayce and Josh Widdicombe have been confirmed for the Christmas special with the remaining Christmas line up announced on Strictly: It Takes Two in due course.

The announcement is good news for professional dancer Carlos, 31, who sadly missed out on a celebrity pairing during the current 2024 series.

It comes as fellow professional dancer, Amy Dowden, admitted she was 'gutted' during her recent appearance on Friday's Lorraine while sharing updates about .

The One's beloved dance show is gearing up for its much-awaited Blackpool Tower Ballroom episode this weekend, an event that marks a significant achievement for the celebs and their dance pro partners.

Only last week Amy, 34, shared her sadness about having to leave the competition early due to sustaining a foot injury. The Welsh dancer made a comeback to the BBC show for its 20th anniversary series after missing out last year while undergoing treatment for stage three breast cancer. In February, Amy announced that tests indicated she has "no evidence of disease".

Following Amy's departure, her celebrity partner, JLS star JB Gill, 37, is now partnered with fellow pro Lauren Oakley with the two competing in this weekend's Blackpool special.

On Lorraine's Friday show, guest hosted by Christine Lampard, Amy didn't hide her disappointment at not being able to participate but also hinted at some thrilling prospects for JB and Lauren. Amy shared: "It's the goal, everyone wants to make it to Blackpool there's something so special in there!"

She also mentioned: "I'm just so gutted I won't be dancing there this weekend!" before concluding: "It's definitely not the way I wanted it but I'm so proud of JB, Lauren's doing a great job.

"Obviously I planned the series for him to have his best numbers towards the end to get him to that final as he's so talented. I've seen the quickstep, everyone's in for a treat, I think there's more tens coming!"

Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday 16 November at 6:45pm for a special evening from the iconic Blackpool Tower Ballroom with the results show airing the next day on Sunday 17 November at 7:20pm on both BBC One and BBC iPlayer.