Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood has expressed his desire for the dancing series to still go ahead, saying: “We’re really gunning for it.”
He told Heart Breakfast’s Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden that there are many dances that can be done that don’t involve close contact between partners.
Revel Horwood said: “Well there’s a lot of dances you can do – the Charleston, you can do contemporary, you can do street, modern jazz – there’s lots of stuff you can do that doesn’t involve touching one another, but I’m hoping by October, darling, we might be able to at least get into hold. If that’s not possible, something else will happen.”
At the end of April, the BBC’s controller of entertainment, Kate Phillips, hinted that the series might go ahead without an audience.
Speaking during an online session held by the Edinburgh TV Festival as part of its The Controller series, she said: “We are absolutely looking very carefully at Strictly and how we could do Strictly this autumn.
“That is absolutely one of our big priorities, making sure we can bring you a great Strictly. But I think, inevitably, things are going to change.”
Dancer and TV judge Revel Horwood addressed what it would feel like being in the studio without an audience.
He told Theakston: “Well let’s face it, Ann Widdecombe didn’t touch many people, she was mainly flying in the air when she danced. I’m just saying.
“So there are ways around it and plus it will be the same format but a different guise, it will be interesting I think and it will be very, very exciting and of course, the nation want it.
“You have to remember that we all want it to happen, we’re really gunning for it to happen, because people need something wonderful to look forward to on a Saturday night leading up to Christmas and no-one wants to be miserable, so it’s nice to have something on telly that’s family friendly, number one, because we’re all stuck at home and they can really watch and be entertained with.”
Widdecombe was a contestant on the 2010 series of Strictly Come Dancing, which saw her partnered with professional dancer Anton Du Beke.
The former Conservative MP became an unlikely success story for the comedy element in her dance routines and kept her place in the competition until week 10.
Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston present Heart Breakfast weekdays from 6.30am–10am.