ZapGossip

Anton du Beke remains hopeful over Strictly Come Dancing series

Anton du Beke is hopeful ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ will go ahead later this year despite the coronavirus pandemic.
The 53-year-old professional dancer thinks the BBC could still rescue the upcoming series amid the health crisis, saying there are "contingencies available with timings".
Anton told ‘Good Morning Britain’: "The pros don’t start until August. The celebrities don’t get involved until the beginning of September and the live shows start a bit further into September.
"So I suppose there’s a bit of contingency there that we can push the whole thing back and we can forgo the group dance rehearsals and pick them up during the week or something like that.
"There are some contingencies available, I think, with timings. There’s a bit of flexibility. Hopefully we’ll be able to do some studio stuff by then and the lockdown will be over and then we can sort of crack on."
Anton admitted that, at the moment, the fate of the upcoming series remains up in the air.
But he believes there is still hope it’ll go ahead as originally planned.
The dance star explained: "No one knows anything yet because the lockdown is still going on, but I think there are some things available to everybody."
Earlier this week, ‘Strictly’ judge Craig Revel Horwood revealed he remains confident the upcoming series will go ahead as planned.
He explained: "I’ve spoken to the producers and they’re working through absolutely everything to make it happen. I know, fingers crossed, it will.
"There is some way around it, there has to be. People love the show, it’s great entertainment … We really want it back and I know BBC One are working extremely hard to make that happen for the audience."