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Strictly Come Dancing fans rejoice! Christmas is just around the corner, meaning the star-studded Christmas special is set to air later this week. It comes after Strictly’s recent winners were crowned: former Lioness Karen Carney took the crown after beating out Amber Davies and George Clarke in the final last weekend.
However, it doesn’t stop there because the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2025 will mark the final show of the year will see six couples battle it out under the glitterball to be crowned the Strictly Christmas Champion.
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will oversee the festivities for their final time, while 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.
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Unfortunately, for anyone who might be spending the Christmas break abroad who still wants to watch the show live, it could prove tough to tune-in.
That's because BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, blocking those abroad who don't pay the annual TV licence from streaming the latest BBC dramas, factual series, comedies, reality shows, and more.
If you're a licence fee holder who is abroad over the holidays, it's possible to take advantage of one of the best VPN deals to spoof your location and watch just as you would from the comfort of your own sofa.
We'd recommend the award-winning ExpressVPN.
VPNs can be invaluable tools to ensure that you help route all your traffic to servers in the UK, meaning BBC iPlayer will work just as well as if you were sitting in your living room.
Tess Daly and Craig Revel Horwood on the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special 2025 | BBCHow to watch Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2025 in the UK
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2025 is set to air on Christmas Day (Thursday, December 25th) from 5.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The good news is that the BBC has already confirmed which couples and celebrities will show up on the day, as well as which songs and dances they will perform.
Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly on the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special 2025 | BBCAll the celebrities set to appear on Strictly Come Dancing Special 2025
This year's Christmas special is looking star-studded with famous singers, sports stars and actors set to dance the Christmas night away. Here’s a quick list of the celebs and the professional dancers that will accompany them:
- Presenter and TV personality Scarlett Moffatt will be dancing with Vito Coppola
- Singer and cook Melanie Blatt will be dancing with Kai Widdrington
- Rugby player, athlete, broadcaster, and advocate for the deaf community Jodie Ounsley aka Fury with be dancing with Neil Jones
- Actor Nicholas Bailey will be dancing with Luba Mushtuk
- Award-winning stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster Babatunde Aléshé is dancing with Nancy Xu
- Irish singer-songwriter Brian McFadden dances with Michelle Tsiakkas
The dances on the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2025
The BBC has already announced what dances each celeb couple are set to perform in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special. For those who want to keep themselves in the dark, you might want to skip this section:
- Scarlett Moffatt and Vito Coppola - Cha Cha Cha to DJ Play A Christmas Song by Cher
- Jodie Ounsley aka Fury and Neil Jones - Street/Commercial to Red Christmas by Kylie Cantrall
- Nicholas Bailey and Luba Mushtuk - Viennese Waltz to It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams
- Melanie Blatt and Kai Widdrington - American Smooth to Santa Baby by The Pussycat Dolls
- Brian McFadden and Michelle Tsiakkas - Jive to Run Rudolph Run by Kelly Clarkson
- Babatunde Aléshé and Nancy Xu - Charleston to Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters
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BBC iPlayer is accessible from a wide variety of devices, from smartphones to Smart TVs. However, it's geo-restricted to the UK and you must be covered by a valid TV Licence (£174.50) to stream | BBC PRESS OFFICE How to watch Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2025 from outside the UK
For those who are abroad for Christmas, you won't be able to access the terrestrial channels and livestream above. Streaming services determine your location using your IP address, a unique identifier assigned by your internet provider whenever you connect online. These addresses are linked to geographic regions, allowing platforms to enforce content restrictions based on licensing agreements.
Your IP address is typically assigned dynamically each time you reconnect, though some providers use static IPs. VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) let you mask your real location by routing traffic through servers in different countries, tricking services into thinking you're elsewhere. This enables access to geo-restricted content that's only available for a specific region.
However, many streaming platforms actively block VPNs to enforce their geo-restrictions and licensing rules.
BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, so it cannot be accessed from other countries, since it's only available to those who pay the annual £174.50 TV licence fee that pays for its content.
However, it is possible to access this free stream platform with the right VPN.
ExpressVPN is an award-winning VPN with gongs from the likes of Techradar, CNET, and Tom's Guide, with praise for its servers dedicated to fast, reliable streaming from anywhere in the world.
Monthly prices start from £1.99 and unlocks ExpressVPN across up to 14x devices.
Once installed, connect to a UK server from ExpressVPN's network of over 3,000 servers across 105 countries. The service uses proprietary Lightway protocol for enhanced speed and reliability, ensuring smooth streaming of festival performances.
The service works across all your devices - Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, smart TVs and streaming devices like Fire TV Stick. You can even use ExpressVPN's MediaStreamer feature to watch on devices that don't normally support VPNs, such as PlayStation or Xbox.
- Sign up for a VPN — like ExpressVPN
- Download the app to your preferred device
- Open the app and connect to a VPN server location in UK
- Connect to BBC iPlayer on the device where you'd like to watch
- Sign-in to BBC iPlayer or create an account
- Watch the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2025 from anywhere in the world
VPNs work by encrypting all of your online traffic before it's sent over the internet. This prevents your ISP, advertisers, hackers, and fraudsters from tracking your online activity, stealing your personal data, or placing restrictions on you | EXPRESSVPN PRESS OFFICE Of course, this technique should only be used by licence fee payers who will be outside of the UK while coverage of the festival is broadcast and don't want to miss out on the shows they've paid for with the annual £174.50 fee.
ExpressVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to watch the entire festival risk-free and recover your investment if you're not satisfied with the service.
VPNs are not illegal and are often mandated by companies to improve online security for employees. However, it's your responsibility to ensure that you're using these popular apps for legal use. Always check the terms and conditions of the streaming service.
ExpressVPN supports a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and routers. There's no limit on the number of ExpressVPN apps that you can download on your devices, and with a single subscription, you can connect to the VPN on 10x gadgets at once.
It also has a dedicated team that optimises the service for major streaming platforms. Round-the-clock customer support is available if you encounter any issues during race weekend.
ExpressVPN isn't the cheapest VPN. However, its 30-day money-back guarantee makes it a risk-free choice for privacy-conscious users and frequent streamers. It should also give new customers the confidence to subscribe to one of its longer contracts, which unlock the biggest discounts.
What is a VPN?
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is software that protects and anonymises everything you do online. VPNs can conceal your online activities by routing traffic through an encrypted tunnel that connects your device to secure servers worldwide.
With end-to-end encryption running on your device, all data communicated between you and the websites you're visitng will be scrambled so nobody — not even your broadband provider, advertisers, or governments — could intercept and make out what you're doing
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The most reliable VPNs employ the same encryption standard as governments in the United Kingdom and the United States, ensuring that even your Internet Service Provider (ISP) connected to Wi-Fi cannot record the websites you visit, the duration of your sessions on each site, or your current location. This protection extends to advertisers, trackers, and hackers, preventing them from monitoring your online behaviour.
Furthermore, personal information entered into online forms and sensitive data transmitted to and from your device will be safeguarded from hackers using strong encryption provided by a VPN.
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