Strictly Come Dancing will not be going to Blackpool in 2021 in a massive change to the normal running order.
Traditionally, the final seven couples have travelled up to the famous Blackpool Tower ballroom each year for a special episode of the TV series.
So under normal circumstances, the remaining couples in this year's Strictly would all be heading up north for next week's show.
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There are eight remaining couples in the show - Dan Walker and Nadia; John Whaite and Johannes Radebe; AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington; Tilly Ramsay and Nikita Kuzmin; Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice; Tom Fletcher and Amy Dowden; Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu; and Sara Davies and Aljaz Skorjanec.
But this year, like in 2020, Covid restrictions have forced a change to the schedule. Coronavirus has already hit several of the dancers, with Tom and Amy and Judi Love all missing a week after testing positive.
Last year, the Blackpool show was cancelled due to Covid and the same applies for 2021. The BBC first started filming the Strictly Blackpool Week episode in 2004, with the special show then becoming a fixed part of the competition’s calendar between 2013 and 2019.
Memorable past Blackpool performances have included:
- Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani performed their unforgettable Quickstep to ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’ by the Pretenders in 2011.
- Simon Webbe and Kristina Rihanoff earned three 10s for their Argentine Tango to ‘El Tango de Roxanne’ from Moulin Rouge.
- Kevin Clifton and Susanna Reid excelled in a Paso Doble in 2013, dressed in traditional Spanish red. They scored 39 for their incredible performance.
Gemma Atkinson and Aljaz Skorjanec’s American Smooth accompanied by half a dozen back-up dancers in 2017.
Producer Sarah James said earlier in the year: “We are all so sad that we won’t be able to get to Blackpool this year but can’t wait to be back dancing at the one and only Blackpool Tower Ballroom in the future.”
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