Tamzin Outhwaite on Christmas Strictly: New Interview

Tamzin Outhwaite has been discussing taking part in this year's Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special...

The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special is back! As the Ballroom is once again transformed into a magical winter wonderland. Expect festive cheer, jingle bells, mistletoe madness, bedazzling baubles and six celebrities all sleighing their way to Elstree in a bid to be crowned the Strictly Christmas Champion 2024.

In the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, produced by BBC Studios, each of the six couples will perform a festive fuelled routine in the hope of impressing the judges, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Head Judge Shirley Ballas, and the voting studio audience. But who will emerge the Christmas star of the evening, and lift the sought after Christmas trophy?

What’s your favourite Christmas song that we get you dancing in the kitchen?

It’s got to be Last Christmas by Wham.

Do you stay in your PJs all day or do you plan a special Christmas outfit?

We have stayed in PJs all day before. Generally, I tend to try and get dressed by dinner time for Christmas Day lunch.

Can you dance?!

I thought I could. I thought that skill would never leave me and it just needed a little bit of finessing but since I've started training, I now know that I'm not really a dancer.

What is a must have on the Christmas dinner table?

For us, gravy is a big thing. Mainly because we had one Christmas where my mum forgot gravy. So that one Christmas became the gravy-less Christmas and it is famous in our family for that.

Are there any Christmas rituals or traditions that you and your family always do?

My mum and dad started a wonderful thing, where we always had a sack at the end of our beds when Santa had been and so we'd come and see what Santa had left in the sack at the end of the beds. Then they would do a separate thing where they would hide a couple of main presents and they would say that's from them. If we found a present that didn't have our name on we had to really slyly put it back in its hiding place. I've carried on that tradition which is basically a full treasure hunt until everyone finds their present.

What's the best gift you've ever received or given?

The most memorable gift was when I was about 11 and I got a purple chopper bike. My parents kept saying, ‘Can you please go to the garage and get some black bags?’ and I kept saying, ‘No, it's Christmas I’m not time doing any jobs today’, but my mum was like, ‘you've got to go’. When I eventually went there was a brand-new purple chopper bike in the garage, and it's what I really wanted.

What's the worst gift you've ever received or given?

I'm sure that I've given some pretty bad ones without knowing. I actually bought my ex an air fryer, which I'm not sure he was particularly happy with. It’s in my house now and we use it every day.

If you could be any character from a Christmas film? Who would it be?

I think it's got to be Emma Thompson in Love Actually.

How many sprouts are you having with your Christmas dinner?

At least three. If they're not too mushy and they've got bacon in it then I'm having at least three, maybe four.

Did you ever take part in a Christmas, nativity or panto? And what character did you play? Do you have any funny anecdotes?

I've only done a panto once, many, many years ago, when I was still starting out. It was at the Queen's theatre in Hornchurch and I played Fairy Forgetful. One time I was dressed as a pea and everyone took the mickey out of me because Fairy Forgetful forgot that there was a huge hole in the stage and fell under the stage. Luckily I had this huge, ridiculous outfit on so I was okay.

Why did you say yes to Strictly Christmas?

I've always wanted to do Strictly because I want to learn to Ballroom and Latin dance but I know that at my age, I don't think my body would be able to do the amount of weeks that is required. So I said yes to the Christmas Special because it feel like a little snippet, a Strictly hors d'oeuvre. Like I could just dip in for a couple of weeks.

You’re good friends with Sarah Hadland who is on this year’s main series. Has she or any of your other famous friends given you any advice or tips?

I haven’t told anyone yet but I leave Sarah the odd voice note saying, ‘well done, that was brilliant’ and ‘Oh my God, I don't know how you're doing it.’ She's a great performer, she's doing amazing.

How excited were you when you found out that Nikita was your dance partner?

Very excited because we call him Prince Charming in the house. He just has the hair and face and the body and everything, he looks like Prince Charming.

You've been a familiar face on our screens for years, playing some iconic roles and characters. Will you be channelling any of your characters on the Strictly ballroom?

I think that Rebecca Mitchell from Hotel Babylon would do a great Paso Doble. For some reason I reckon Jo McDonagh in Red Cap would be quite good at the Jive. Most of my characters are really strong women and I'm really having to think about being feminine, elegant, and allowing the man to lead which I suppose is quite different to most of my characters.

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