THE upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing is under serious threat from the coronavirus outbreak, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
Preparations for the BBC1 ballroom show – which is due to launch in September – are expected to be put in motion by late June.
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But with the country now in lockdown for at least three weeks, the TV bosses behind the hit series feel that time might run out.
Sources confirmed talks are ongoing about how the show team would cope if the situation doesn’t improve.
And they admitted that they can’t rule out the possibility of the series being cancelled altogether.
One said: “We are taking things one day at a time at the moment. The situation is not yet urgent as we still have – for now – time.
“But there are talks ongoing about how we would cope with different scenarios.
“Many of our preparations for the series – such as casting dancers and working on choreography – can be done virtually if needed.
“One option we could look at further down the line is filming without a studio audience – as the Let’s Dance team are doing in Germany.
“The bosses are adamant that if they can move forward with the show they will – even if it looks very different to previous years.
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“But none of us knows what the next few weeks and months will bring.”
A second source also told how bosses fear they will struggle to recruit celebrities for the show while the UK is gripped with panic over Covid-19.
One said: “By this stage, we would normally expect to be starting to cast stars for the show. But so far no one is on board for 2020.
“The hope is that the casting team have more success in the weeks to come.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We will continue to review all productions on a case by case basis and will continue to follow the latest news and advice from the Foreign Office, World Health Organisation and Public Health England.”
