Strictly Come Dancing: Brendan Cole delighted by reunion with 'great dancer' Kelly Brook

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

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Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole said he was delighted to be reunited with "great dancer" Kelly Brook for a Christmas special after he was dumped out of the current series with Victoria Pendleton.

Cole said there was a "lack of dance ability" in his partnership with the cyclist, adding: "She's not a dancer or a performer and she's not suited to this industry."

His reunion with Brook, who he partnered in the show's fifth series until she had to pull out when her father died, will be seen on the BBC1 Christmas Day special which will see celebrities including former footballer Fabrice Muamba, actress Sheila Hancock, and JLS's JB Gill take part.

Veteran comic Bobby Ball, Katy Brand and Helen Skelton will make up the final six competing to win the public vote and be named the Christmas champion.

They will be joined on the show by the Strictly Allstars - nine contestants from previous series, including Brook, who are coming back to the dancefloor one more time.

Among them are Natasha Kaplinsky, Rachel Stevens, Tom Chambers, Ann Widdecombe and Russell Grant.

Cole, who is embarking on a UK-wide tour in the new year after the show, said: "I'm working with Kelly for the Strictly Christmas special, albeit briefly. We were back in the studio on Monday and she's a great dancer, and a lovely, bubbly person to be around. It was lovely to be back with her. We get to revisit certain things that were very good."

And he insisted he has no problems with the return of Kaplinsky to dance with Ian Waite.

Cole won the 2004 series with the newsreader and their intense routines sparked rumours of an off-screen relationship which they have both denied.

He said: "I'm happy for them that they can go and dance together. I don't have a feeling on that."

PA