New format planned for Strictly Christmas Special this year

So you're a Strictly Come Dancing producer and you want the really big names for your show, but let's be honest how many of us could honestly just drop everything and commit up to 3 months of our lives to a dance show?  Well actually I would, it is Strictly after all, but that's beside the point!


It seems this year that the BBC have decided on a way around this predicament, according to Mirror.co.uk there are plans to have a 'Mini-Tournament' for the Christmas Special.  Rather than celebs working and performing for months they are planning on offering 2 weeks of intensive training culminating in a final competition to be aired on Christmas Day.

The BBC feels this will give those celebrities who can't commit to the full schedule a chance to experience Strictly in a more condensed manner.  Apparently some of the names thought to be featuring could include

Sharon Osbourne, Fern Britton, Peter Andre and Gary Lineker.

It's an interesting idea but that's putting a lot of pressure on both the celebs and the professionals.  Training a complete beginner up to Strictly performance standard in 2 weeks is going to be intense and I would be worried about whether this could do more harm than good to the Strictly 'brand'.  But then I was a little disappointed with last year's Christmas Special so an injection of new ideas could well be what it needs.

Time will tell whether this works or not.