The Muamba rumba… it’s Strictly Christmas! Former footballer shows off fancy footwork as he takes to the dancefloor
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Sashaying across the dance floor with a broad grin on his face, he clearly had the time of his life.
Eight months after a cardiac arrest stopped his heart for 78 minutes, Fabrice Muamba was on top form for Strictly Come Dancing.
Eight months after a cardiac arrest stopped his heart for 78 minutes, Fabrice Muamba was on top form for Strictly Come Dancing.
The first pictures of the show’s pre-recorded Christmas special show the 24-year-old footballer swaying his hips and spinning his partner Aliona Vilani with carefree abandon.
Muamba retired from football in the summer after collapsing during an FA Cup match for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur.
Shaking it up: Aliona Vilani gets down with footballer Fabrice Muamba
Fabrice shows that his footballing footwork has other uses
Despite suffering a cardiac arrest nine months ago forcing him into retirement, the 24 year old shows no sign of slowing down
Other contestants on the one-off BBC1 show – to be broadcast on Christmas Day – were just as enthusiastic.
Dressed as the Snow Queen in a feathery white gown and sparkling tiara, actress Sheila Hancock clearly embraced the programme’s kitsch ethos.
But the 79-year-old revealed she insisted on a clause in her BBC contract stipulating she would not be sprayed with fake tan before taking to the dance floor.
She said: ‘I’m much too old to be sprayed with fake tan. It would just go into all the wrinkles and be hideous.
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‘I made it absolutely clear when they asked me to do the show. I said “I’ll do anything you ask except fake tan.”
‘I wouldn’t have done it without that proviso.’
Miss Hancock added the tan worn by her professional dance partner Ian Waite was ‘extremely smelly.’
Showing her skills: Actress Chelsee Healey appears with her midriff on show in the festive episode
Set for a spectacular: All of the stars will battle it out to win the Christmas special
They're in a good mood: Even the judges get in the festive spirit and lighten up
She said: ‘He’s going to look deliciously brown and I’m going to look as though I’m dying.
‘In actual fact I don’t think brown looks good in the winter. It is something about the light. It makes you look kind of yellow.
‘In actual fact I don’t think brown looks good in the winter. It is something about the light. It makes you look kind of yellow.
‘And also Ian was extremely smelly because of his spray tan.’
Miss Hancock took a week’s dance classes before competing in the show, but said the practice sessions left her in ‘agony’.
He's had practice! JLS' JB Gill shows off his athletic moves as he takes to the dancefloor for the one off episode
Back again: New celebrities will take to the floor, while other stars will return from series gone by, like Chris Hollins
She said: ‘I love the show and it was nice to be part of it, but it was quite arduous. To learn a dance in a week when you’ve never done anything like it in your life before is hard.
‘I don’t half have some aches and pains. It is agony. I don’t have any injuries as such but my intercostal muscles hurt.
Actress Sheila Hancock is among the other stars taking part in the Christmas Strictly special
‘My body is slightly bending leftwards. It may be some time before I am upright, I suspect.’
Mr Waite was also partnered with Natasha Kaplinsky, 40, who won Strictly’s first series in 2004.
The newsreader showed she has kept her lithe figure in the intervening years, exposing her legs in a skimpy black and white frock.
Other contestants in the festive episode will include retired Olympic hurdler Colin Jackson, 45, who put his athleticism to good use by doing the splits in a mid-air leap.
Lady in white: TV presenter Helen Skelton will also give it her best on the Christmas special
Getting festive: Anton Du Beke sports a Christmas jumper as he dances with comedienne Katy Brand
The show’s winner will not be revealed before it screens on Christmas Day, but the judges were clearly impressed with one of the contestants.
Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman and Darcey Bussell were all pictured holding perfect ten scores.
Only Craig Revel Horwood disagreed, giving the mystery couple nine points.
The hosts: Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly will of course preside over the show as usual
The judge – known as ‘Mr Nasty’ because of his cutting critiques – will join in the evening’s entertainments by dressing as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and pulling a sleigh across the studio.
Veteran rocker Rod Stewart, 67, will serenade the audience with a Christmas song.
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