Natasha and Jill go toe-to-toe

Dancing queens Natasha Kaplinsky and Jill Halfpenny are preparing to battle it out in a Strictly Come Dancing special tomorrow night - with Jill favourite to win.

TV presenter Natasha, who won the first series of the BBC ballroom dancing show, is hoping to take the crown with her partner Brendan Cole.

The couple, whose foxtrots on screen are said to have sparked a passionate off-screen relationship, have spent weeks practising their steps for the Strictly Come Dancing special.

They have been rehearsing for tomorrow night's show ever since Brendan was voted off the second series with dancing partner Sarah Manners.

Since winning the second show, former EastEnders actress Jill, 29, has landed the lead role of Roxie in the West End musical Chicago. Meanwhile, Natasha, 32, has enjoyed a new image as one of the BBC's most glamorous faces.

Tomorrow night, Natasha and Brendan will fox-trot to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas while Jill and her partner Darren Bennett will jive to Rocking around the Christmas Tree.

They will face rivalry on the dance floor from the likes of opera singer Lesley Garrett, who will waltz to Silent Night, and athlete Denise Lewis, who will perform a quickstep to Sleigh Ride.

But the real battle for the viewers and judges' vote to become the Champion of Champions will be between Natasha and Jill. An insider said: "On the first series Natasha and Brendan walked it. "Now it's going to take a massive effort to come back against Jill.

"Natasha and Jill have been taking it very seriously and been practising ever since Brendan was kicked out of the second series. "They have been going for it in a major way. Natasha is desperate to win."

Rugby star Martin Offiah is set to jive to All I Want For Christmas and Aled Jones will be hoping to steal the crown with a samba version of his childhood hit Walking in the Air.