Jodie Ounsley, better-known as Fury from ‘Gladiators', is the third celebrity announced to take part in the ‘Strictly Come Dancing' Christmas Special.
Announced last night on ‘Strictly: It Takes Two', Ounsley will be lighting up the ‘Strictly' Christmas ballroom alongside her Professional dance partner Neil Jones. Ounsley is a rugby player, athlete, broadcaster, and advocate for the deaf community, who has been breaking boundaries from the very start. Profoundly deaf from infancy, she received a cochlear implant as a child, becoming one of the youngest people in the UK to undergo the procedure.
Ounsley's rugby career has seen her play professionally for Loughborough Lightning, Sale Sharks Women, and Exeter Chiefs Women, before announcing her retirement in April 2024. In 2019, she made sporting history as the first deaf female to play for a senior England rugby side, and the world’s first deaf female international rugby sevens player.
Away from rugby, Ounsley is a British Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion and multiple-time World Coal Carrying Champion – a discipline which earned her a Guinness World Record this year, for completing the fastest 50m sprint while carrying a 20kg coal bag. Ounsley has also turned her talents to broadcasting, working as an interviewer for the BBC at the Women’s 2024 Rugby World Cup, as well as on Channel 4’s coverage of last year's Paralympic Games.Ounsley is also a published author, having co-written two books with Becky Grey.
In 2024, Ounsley joined the rebooted BBC series ‘Gladiators' as Fury, quickly becoming a fan favourite.
Ounsley says: “I’m absolutely buzzing to be doing the ‘Strictly' Christmas Special. Being the first female rugby player means a lot to me too. I honestly can’t wait to get stuck in, I’m used to smashing into people so this is definitely going to be a challenge!”
Ounsley joins the previously announced Scarlett Moffatt and Melanie Blatt in Strictly’s festive line-up. The remaining three celebrities taking part in the 2025 ‘Strictly' Christmas special will be announced across this week on ‘Strictly: It Takes Two' at 6:30pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing' Christmas special will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.
