If you come down with virus, you’re Strictly out!
As two celebs get in shape for glitterball showdown, TV chiefs’ warning to dancers ...
THE sparkly costumes and high-octane dance numbers have proved a winning formula for nearly two decades. But Strictly Come Dancing now faces the biggest cha-cha-change in its history.
Thanks to the pandemic, the show’s bosses have brought in a socially distanced judging panel and contestant ‘bubbles’ – as well as a rule that anyone who contracts Covid will be disqualified. But it seems this year’s contestants have not let this put them off, with comedian Bill Bailey and former home secretary Jacqui Smith trying their best to get in shape ahead of the launch show – due to air on October 17.
Bailey, 55, has been photographed leaving a gym in west London, while Miss Smith, 57, went for a run with her two lurchers Ronan and Lori near her home in Worcestershire.
Bookmakers have named Bailey and Miss Smith among the celebrities most likely to leave the competition first – with each of them at 50/1 to take the Glitterball Trophy.
As the nation waits to see how the pair will fare with their dance partners, Strictly bosses have drawn up tough plans to deal with anyone – celebrity or professional – who falls ill. Executive producer Sarah James said: ‘Obviously according to government guidelines if you receive a positive test you have to isolate for two weeks and that would unfortunately rule them out of the show.’ This year’s series will be a pared down nine-week run with a very different look.
The 12 partnerships – three less than usual – will be unveiled via video link rather than in the studio and the annual trip to the Blackpool Tower ballroom is also off the cards. Only three judges will be in the studio – with separate rostrums – and the dancers will sit in the audience rather than go upstairs to get their scores. Veteran judge Bruno Tonioli has said he will be ‘involved remotely’ and hopes to return full-time towards the end of the series as he is filming the US version of the show in Los Angeles. With limited studio crew, big sets may not be built – so producers will use augmented reality, which adds computer-generated elements.
To ensure the contestants can work closely with their partners, they will ‘bubble up’ and be regularly tested. The professionals spent two weeks in September isolating in a Buckinghamshire hotel so they could rehearse the group numbers.