Forgotten Strictly Christmas star looks unrecognisable with short blonde crop 11 years after festive special

STRICTLY Come Dancing's Christmas Special has seen countless stars take to the ballroom for the annual festive treat.

But one celebrity who graced the dance floor on Christmas Day 11 years ago now looks totally different.

In 2012, the comedienne tried her luck in front of the Strictly judges after being partnered with Anton Du Beke.

But sadly, they didn't get to wave the festive Glitterball Trophy in the air.

In fact Katy Brand and Anton finished the one-off special second from the bottom.

These days, Katy looks unrecognisable after chopping her brunette hair into a super-short style.

She has also bleached her new crop a platinum blonde colour.

Taking to Instagram, Katy recently showed off her striking look while belting out I'll Cover You from the hit musical Rent.

Singing along to the show tune, she told her followers: "Feeling a little down and lethargic? Clean and sing-a-long with a show tune! I chose this from Rent! (you can take the girl out of the West End… etc etc)."

Katy was clutching a duster at the time and later admitted on the post: "Update: I’ve had dust in my throat for two days."

In 2012, Katy and Anton performed a Viennese Waltz to Andy Williams' It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.

Back then, the judging panel was made up of Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell, the late Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli.

Tess Daly and her former co-host, the late Bruce Forsyth, hosted the festive special.

Sadly, Katy and Anton didn't wildly impress the judges and they walked away with a score of 33.

This placed them second to last and behind comedian Bobby Ball and Katya Virshilas, who scored 29 for their American Smooth.

JLS star JB Gill topped the leaderboard with his partner Ola Jordan for their American Smooth, netting an impressive score of 39.

The other stars who took part that year were actress Sheila Hancock, footballer Fabrice Muamba and TV star Helen Skelton.

Katy wasn't too shocked by hers and Anton's low score, however.

Before the festive show aired on BBC One, she admitted: "It's not easy. I'm not used to be dignified and smooth. I've only been dancing for about three days. I did a bit of tap as a kid but I wasn't very good.

"I was routinely asked to leave my ballet classes because I was always distracting the teacher from all the ones who were good at it. I don't really have the limbs for the ballet either."