When asked to put on a penguin suit at Christmas, most men would reach for their dinner jacket.
But for the upcoming Strictly Come Dancing festive special, comedian Josh Widdicombe has taken things very literally.
Dressed as the flightless aquatic birds, Widdicombe, 41 will dance a Charleston to Let It Snow with professional Karen Hauer, 42.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘There’s a lot of joy. We’re penguins, there’s a skateboard and a slide, there’s a fish in my mouth. It’s quite a thoughtful piece and if you look deep it’s about the state of the world in 2024.’
Speaking ahead of the prerecord, the television personality fears that there could be some mishaps during his comical routine.
He said: ‘It’s not going to be easy because you think of the worst thing that could happen, like hitting Karen while flying through the air on national television on Christmas Day.
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Josh Widdicombe has revealed he’s transforming into a penguin to compete in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, with the comic set to take to the floor with pro Karen Hauer
‘Or falling on your a***. Then you’ve got to overcome those fears. It wasn’t easy. Anyone who says it’s easy isn’t really considering everything that could go wrong physically.’
The Last Leg presenter said that he was taking part in the dance competition because his seven-year-old daughter Pearl is a big fan and they will watch it as a family.
He also said he introduced her to Karen, he said: ‘She was so thrilled. She wouldn’t stop talking about her. She’s written her a Christmas card with four dogs on it because Karen’s got 4 dogs.’
Widdicombe also paid tribute to comedian Chris McCausland who won the series earlier this month.
He said: ‘What a guy, what an incredible human. Let’s not patronise him by saying he’s heroic, he’s a really good dancer and that shouldn’t be lost underneath the fact he’s doing something amazing because he’s blind.
‘He’s genuinely got great dancing skills. That shouldn’t be lost.’
He revealed that McCausland was not convinced he would do well on the BBC flagship dance show.
The comic said: ‘I haven’t seen Chris in the flesh since he came on Last Leg in Paris back in August.
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The Last Leg presenter said that he was taking part in the dance competition because his seven-year-old daughter Pearl is a big fan and they will watch it as a family
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Widdicombe also paid tribute to comedian Chris McCausland, who won the series earlier this month (pictured with his professional partner Dianne Buswell)
‘He’d only just started the pre-training, he was like, ”oh God, I’m going to go out in week one, I’m going to be s***”. I thought yep, but he looks like a different shape now.
‘The amount of exercise this is, it’s insane so we’ve not been training every day, we’ve been training once or twice a week for a month, but this is the fittest I’ve ever been and I’m heartbroken that it’s going to be followed by Christmas because all the hard work is going to be undone instantly.’
Asked whether he would like to return to compete on the main show, he ruled himself out as he will be on his nationwide stand-up tour.
He added: ‘If the tour sells well enough then I won’t be able to do the year after as well but if it doesn’t then I’ll go on Strictly to try and sell another tour.’
Competing against Widdicombe for the Glitterball trophy are actress Tamzin Outhwaite, Irish presenter Vogue Williams, Welsh drag queen Tayce Szura-Radix, Gladiator Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, and F1 driver Billy Monger.
