Strictly beats bug with safety-first couple ‘bubbles’
STRICTLY Come Dancing bosses are cutting this year’s series short with an October start date and fewer celebrities taking part, the BBC said.
The show will be delayed by a fortnight as programme bosses endeavour to keep everyone safe while filming within Covid-19 guidelines.
Extra time is needed to isolate the professional dancers between recording the group dances in late August and starting the rehearsals with their celebrity partners.
The professionals, who will live together in a hotel while filming all of the group numbers for the new series, will need to isolate for 14 days once they have finished.
Only then will they be able to start rehearsals for the main show with their celebrity partner, with whom they will form a “bubble”, allowing them to dance freely while in close contact. The number of contestants will be reduced and likely to be 13 rather than the usual 15, in order for the final to take place – in the time-honoured fashion – a week before Christmas.
One Strictly Come Dancing insider said: “Once all the group dances have been recorded in August, the dancers will need to spend two weeks isolating before they can start the next stage.
Drop
“In terms of celebrities, we have had no trouble getting people in the door as there is precious little other work around, but having to isolate means that the timings are against us.”
Having fewer contestants will also help with social distancing in the studio.
The drop in numbers may mean that AJ Pritchard and Kevin Clifton, who both quit the show after last year’s run, are not replaced for this truncated series.
There are currently 16 professional dancers signed up for the show
– nine female and seven male.
A Strictly spokesman said: “The Strictly Come Dancing team are doing everything they can to bring the nation plenty of Strictly magic later this year.
“To ensure we deliver the high standards audiences know and love, and in light of the ongoing considerations around Covid-19, this year’s series of Strictly will have a slightly shorter run than usual.
“The safety of our cast and crew is of the utmost importance to us and further updates will be made in due course.”