Strictly Come Dancing has confirmed its first celebrity for the 2025 series: Gladiators star Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, known as Nitro. The former Olympic athlete previously appeared in last year's Christmas special, where he danced with Nancy Xu and achieved one of the highest scores, though he lost to RuPaul's Drag Race UK star Tayce.
The announcement has reignited debate over the show's policy on past contestants returning. Strictly has a history of allowing celebrities who featured in specials to later compete in the main series. Examples include EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick, who won the 2023 Christmas special and joined the main show last year, and JB Gill, who won a Christmas special in 2012 and returned as a contestant in 2024.
Other celebrities who have made the jump include Helen Skelton, who appeared in a Christmas special a decade before her main show stint, and former This Morning host Fern Britton, who competed in 2010 and returned in 2012. Blue's Simon Webbe and Bros' Matt Goss also danced in Christmas specials before later appearing on the main show.
The policy extends beyond Christmas specials. Alex Scott won a footballers special for Sport Relief in 2018 before joining the main series in 2019. Susanna Reid took part in a Children in Need newsreaders special in 2011 and became a contestant in 2013. Maisie Smith won an EastEnders special in 2019 and placed as a runner-up on the main show the following year.
Despite this trend, no contestant who returned after a Christmas special has ever won the main series. However, JB Gill, Helen Skelton, and Simon Webbe all reached the final as runners-up. The BBC has not imposed restrictions on past contestants, leaving the door open for further returns in future series.
