Great British Sewing Bee Christmas Special - Who’s On and How to Watch

We’re super excited to have the Great British Sewing Bee back on our screens. The celebrity contestants have been announced, and we have a date!

What?

Sewers, rejoice! The Great British Sewing Bee is back for a Christmas Special, hosted by Joe Lycett and featuring a number of celebrity contestants. Judges Esme Young and Patrick Grant are returning to give their verdict on the contestants’ work.

We’ve also found out some insider info about the challenges created by this year’s show-runners!

The first will be the pattern challenge, where the celebs will create some Christmas-themed pyjama bottoms. Then, they’ll move on to the transformation task, which will see them design and make a festive fancy dress outfit, but with a twist… the outfits will be made for dogs, not people!

In a more human-friendly final task, the contestants will create a Christmas Day outfit, where perfect fit will be paramount.

When?

The Great British Sewing Bee: Celebrity Christmas special will air on BBC One on Boxing Day, Saturday 26th December at 7.45pm.

Who?

The celebrity guests have now been officially confirmed!

They are:

Denise Van Outen 

An actress and presenter, who for over 20 years has been a British icon of stage and screen. She’s done everything from Gogglebox to The West End and Broadway, and now puts her sewing skills to the test!

Shirley Ballas 

A ballroom dancer with multiple championship dance titles to her name, who is now a head judge on Strictly Come Dancing and also appears on America’s Dancing With The Stars. 

As well as The Great British Sewing Bee, Ballas will appear on festive specials of Miranda Hart’s Games with Showbiz Names, Family Fortunes and Strictly Come Dancing. If you’re a fan of Ballas, fill your boots!

Ranj Singh

A real-life paediatric emergency medicine specialist and also one of the most well-known TV Doctors in the country. He’s been on This Morning, CBeebies and Strictly Come Dancing… but we’ve never seen him in action with a sewing needle. Can he impress us on Boxing Day?

Sara Pascoe

A top UK comedian who has made us giggle with appearances on 8 out of 10 Cats, QI and Taskmaster. We expect some silly chemistry between Pascoe and presenter Joe Lycett, which could make this Boxing Day a fun one!