Strictly Come Dancing boss Sarah James has revealed that celebrities who test positive for coronavirus this year may not necessarily be eliminated from the show.
Last year Strictly was staged under strict coronavirus health and safety conditions - and when Katya Jones caught the disease, she and celeb partner Nicola Adams were automatically dropped from the competition.
Twelve months down the line the situation has changed, however, with the majority of the public now having been vaccinated and government rules having been loosened accordingly.
Speaking to the Daily Mail about this year's series, James said: "Sadly there will be some protocols in place this year with COVID still being around, some stuff is better than last year and some stuff is kind of the same.
"The professional dancers are all in a hotel together in a household and we're recording most of the group numbers for the series, and then when we get into the live shows they will be tested weekly and they'll bubble up with their celebrities and we'll keep them all distanced from each other; they'll be sitting in the audience like last year.
"Keeping everybody safe is the show's priority, we will have a limited audience like last year, and the better news is last year the isolation period if you received a positive test for 14 days. If a celebrity receives a positive test, it doesn't necessarily means they have to leave the competition. They might miss a week."
The new series starts on BBC One on Saturday, September 18.
Neil Wilkes
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