JODIE OUNSLEY CONFIRMED FOR STRICTLY COME DANCING CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ON BBC ONE

Jodie Ounsley - aka Fury from Gladiators - is the third celebrity announced to take part in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, made by BBC Studios and airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas. Announced on Strictly: It Takes Two, Jodie will be lighting up the Strictly Christmas ballroom alongside her Professional dance partner Neil Jones.

Jodie is a rugby player, athlete, broadcaster, and advocate for the deaf community, who has been breaking boundaries from the very start. Profoundly deaf from infancy, she received a cochlear implant as a child, becoming one of the youngest people in the UK to undergo the procedure.

Jodie’s rugby career has seen her play professionally for Loughborough Lightning, Sale Sharks Women, and Exeter Chiefs Women, before announcing her retirement in April 2024. In 2019, she made sporting history as the first deaf female to play for a senior England rugby side, and the world’s first deaf female international rugby sevens player.

Away from rugby, Jodie is a British Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion and multiple-time World Coal Carrying Champion - a discipline which earned her a Guinness World Record this year, for completing the fastest 50m sprint while carrying a 20kg coal bag. Jodie has also turned her talents to broadcasting, working as an interviewer for the BBC at the Women’s 2024 Rugby World Cup, as well as on Channel 4’s coverage of last year's Paralympic Games. Jodie is also a published author, having co-written two books with Becky Grey.

In 2024, Jodie joined the rebooted BBC series Gladiators as ‘Fury’, quickly becoming a fan favourite. Jodie Ounsley says: "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!”

This year’s Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special will see six couples battle it out under the glitterball to be crowned the Strictly Christmas Champion. Hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will oversee the festivities for their final time, while Head Judge Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke will all be on hand to dish out sleigh-loads of advice, Christmas cheer and the odd lump of coal - before the voting studio audience will decide who wins.

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