Stars queue up for festive Strictly Come Dancing

Kimberley Walsh, one of this year's stars of Strictly Come Dancing (Rex Features)

The boss of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing says stars are desperate to appear in the Christmas special after seeing the success of the latest series.

The programme has pulled in excess of a million viewers more than rival The X Factor on Saturday nights over the past few weeks.

Now Glenn Coomber, one of the show's two executive producers, says big names are keen to be attached for the annual seasonal edition.

He said: "We are now preparing for the Christmas show and the celebrities we are lining up are fantastic. We have had a lot of interest and I could not be happier.

"Strictly is not seen in the same way as Dancing On Ice or I'm A Celebrity. It's not a reality show. It's a magical thing where people work hard but they have such genuine fun. Strictly has to be fun as otherwise there is no point in doing it."

He said show bosses had not gone out of their way to find a contestant who was particularly bad this year.

"We did not go into this thinking who is the next Ann Widdecombe or Nancy Dell'Olio," said Mr Coomber.

"We looked at who was relevant. When I met Lisa Riley for the first time, she was such a lovely, warm person.

"She told me 'I may be a fat person but I can do the splits'. I felt we had someone very special with her and the combination of Lisa and Robin (Windsor) is working like a dream."

PA