Meet the celebrities taking part in The Great British Sewing Bee's Christmas and New Year Specials
Which celebrities will be attempting some seasonal sewing?
'Tis the season where every show gets a special - and the Great British Sewing Bee Christmas special is on its way – and it isn't alone as a New Year special has been announced, too.
A Christmas special, of course, means celebrities - and The Great British Sewing Bee has quite the line-up vying to impress returning judges Esme Young and Patrick Grant.
So without further ado, here are the stars who will be trying their hand at making festive pyjamas, pantomime costumes, and New Year's Eve outfits.
The Great British Sewing Bee's Christmas Contestants
Denise Van Outen
Actress and presenter Denise Van Outen has been a star of stage and screen for over two decades now, and is best known for presenting The Big Breakfast and playing Roxie Hart in Chicago in both The West End and Broadway.
She's been quite the celebrity guest recently - this year she came fifth in The Masked Singer as Fox, took part in Celebrity Gogglebox, and will be a contestant on the upcoming series of Dancing On Ice.
Shirley Ballas
Ballroom dancer Shirley Ballas won several championship titles in Latin Dance, firmly establishing herself as The Queen of Latin before her television work. She will be most recognisable to viewers now as head judge on Strictly Come Dancing, and also appears on the US version titled Dancing With The Stars.
It really will be a 'Shirley Ballas Christmas' – as well as The Great British Sewing Bee she'll also be appearing on festive specials of Miranda Hart's Games with Showbiz Names, Taskmaster, Family Fortunes, The Crystal Maze, and, of course, Strictly Come Dancing. Phew.
Dr Ranj Singh
TV doctor Ranj Singh is a paediatric emergency medicine specialist, and is a factual contributor on several shows such as This Morning where he is resident doctor. He also created and presented CBeebies show Get Well Soon, and took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 in which he was the sixth contestant to be eliminated.
He is also an author and columnist, and presented his own medical magazine show in March 2020 called Dr Ranj: On Call.
Sara Pascoe
Comedian Sara Pascoe will be recognisable to most due to her frequent panel show appearances on the likes of 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, QI and Taskmaster. As well as performing in stand up comedy tours, she has published two books, hosts a podcast titled Sex Power Money and recently starred in her own BBC2 comedy series Out Of Her Mind.
New Year's Eve Special Contestants
The Vivienne
Liverpudlian The Vivienne was the first UK ambassador for RuPaul's Drag Race, and later won the first British edition of the show in 2019. She has since starred in her own BBC3 series The Vivienne Takes Hollywood, and has also presented the shows Morning T&T and I Like To Watch.
Lesley Joseph
Lesley Joseph will be forever known as Dorien Green and we will see her in action for another Birds of a Feather Christmas special this year - but has also starred in stage productions of Calendar Girls, Annie and Young Frankenstein. She also took part in the 2016 series of Strictly Come Dancing, and was eliminated in Week Four with partner Anton Du Beke.
Sabrina Grant
Sabrina Grant is best known for co-presenting Supershoppers with Anna Richardson, but has also fronted several health documentaries for Channel 4. Grant is no stranger to arts and crafts - she will host upcoming BBC2 craft show Saved and Remade, and has previously been a stylist for stars such as Sam Smith and Taylor Swift.
Sally Phillips
Actress and comedian Sally Phillips has quite the CV - not only did she co-create sketch show Smack The Pony, but is known for her roles as Tilly in Miranda, Sophie in I'm Alan Partridge, and Minna Häkkinen in Veep. She's graced the big screen also, starring as Shazza in all three Bridget Jones films and Mrs. Bennett in comedy-horror Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
The Great British Sewing Bee specials will air during the holidays. Visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight, or check out our guide to new TV shows 2020 to find out what’s airing this autumn and beyond.
