ITV advert error reveals Strictly copycat plot

For a few tantalising hours, it seemed like ITV might be planning its own version of Strictly Come Dancing, unleashing a battle of the ballrooms that would surely have mesmerised the nation. An ad on an industry website revealed that: "Endemoluk are looking for a family who would like to learn ballroom dancing from a famous TV professional and perform the dance on a brand new show for ITV". The blurb promised, for good measure, that: "The show is going to be massive." Had ITV asked the Big Brother maker to produce a "Strictly" rival, shorn of celebrities and featuring ordinary members of the public? Tragically not, although the catsuits and sequins may yet be dusted off as a segment of another show, according to an ITV spokesman. The ad was for the Feelgood Factor, a new programme unveiled as part of ITV's winter schedule last month. "It's a possible strand, but it was only a speculative conversation. The ad shouldn't have gone up and it's now been taken down," the ITV man added. Given that ITV executive chairman Michael Grade was slagging off "creatively bankrupt" copycat shows last year, that may be just as well.