Strictly Come Dancing makes history as it signs up first drag queen for Christmas special

After shooting to fame on Ru Paul's Drag Race UK, Tayce has been signed up to dance with Kai Widdrington on the Christmas Day special of BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing.

Start your engines... RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finalist Tayce will become the first drag artist to take part in Strictly Come Dancing, and will star on the upcoming Christmas special.

The Welsh radio presenter and model said she "cannot wait to ‘sleigh’ on the Strictly ballroom floor" alongside pro dancer, and winner of the 2022 edition of the Strictly festive spin-off, Kai Widdrington. The 30-year-old - whose dad is former Wham! bass player Roger Radix - was a runner up on the second series of the Drag Race competition.

Tayce's participation in the BBC One show was announced this Tuesday, November 12, by Fleur East. Speaking about appearing on the show, Tayce said: “I cannot wait to ‘sleigh’ on the Strictly ballroom floor. My partner and I are going to dance for our lives.

“In all seriousness, it’s an incredible honour to be the first drag artist to be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing. I hope I do all of my Drag Race and Welsh fans proud. Sign me up for all the glitz, glam and disco balls."

Actor Layton Williams performed in drag as Betty Rizzo from the musical Grease with professional partner Nikita Kuzmin last year, to the soundtrack hit There Are Worse Things I Could Do.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK judge Michelle Visage also appeared on Strictly in 2019, where she was partnered with Giovanni Pernice and was the eighth celebrity to be eliminated. It comes after The Last Leg star Josh Widdicombe was announced as the first celebrity to take part in the traditional Christmas Day special.

The 41-year-old is best known for Channel 4 comedy panel show The Last Leg, where he appears alongside Adam Hills and Alex Brooker, and has fronted his own semi-autobiographical BBC Three show, Josh. He has also hosted the Dave panel show Hypothetical.

This Monday, however, it was announced that he will soon have to let Karen Hauer take the lead during his upcoming stint on Strictly's festive special. Speaking about his impending participation, he shared: "I am utterly terrified this will end in humiliation and worried I’m going to be so bad I will ruin Christmas for the nation. Why have I done this?"

But could he learn to impress judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas, who will decide the winner of the Christmas special along with votes from the studio audience?

Last year, and before he strutted into the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom with professional partner Michelle Tsiakkas, Jamie Borthwick lifted the Silver Star trophy with Nancy Xu, who has recently left the competition with Coronation Street star Shayne Ward.

Speaking of which, viewers have been outspoken about Strictly's most recent elimination as Nancy Xu and Shayne Ward were not saved by head judge Shirley during Sunday's dance-off.

Sunday night's episode of the BBC show saw Shayne and Nancy voted out of the competition after performing their rumba to Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time again. They were in the dance-off against Wynne Evans, 52, and Katya Jones, 35, who were saved after dancing their American smooth to Mika's Grace Kelly for a second time.

The decision has since been questioned and some fans have criticised Shirley getting to have the casting vote. There have even been calls on social media for a petition to get her off the show.

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