Hollywood actor Alfonso Ribeiro has been confirmed to replace Bruno Tonioli on Strictly Come Dancing next week.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star – who was best known for playing Will Smith’s cousin Carlton Banks on the US sitcom – will sit in for the flamboyant Italian on the judging panel alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Dame Darcey Bussell and Shirley Ballas on Saturday.
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Alongside a video of Alfonso doing his signature Carlton dance, the BBC One ballroom and Latin show’s official Twitter account announced: “It’s true @alfonso_ribeiro to guest Judge next week on #Strictly! *Carlton dance for days* (sic).”
It’s true @alfonso_ribeiro to guest Judge next week on #Strictly! *Carlton dance for days* pic.twitter.com/5MLxgkRMKx
— BBC Strictly✨ (@bbcstrictly) 14 October 2018
The 47-year-old comedian – who competed on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2013 – has plenty of experience in dance, as he won the US version of Strictly, called Dancing With The Stars, in 2014, alongside his partner Witney Carson.
It comes after The Sun reported that Bruno’s work commitments – which already see him fly between London and Los Angeles every week as he judges both shows – mean he will be unable to undertake his BBC duties on the weekend of October 20.
An insider told the publication that having won season 19 of Dancing with the Stars, Alfonso will “bring great energy to show”.
The source said: “Everyone is excited to have Alfonso on the judging panel.
“He will bring great energy to show following his winning appearance on Dancing with The Stars.”
Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Alfonso will front new game show Money Tree for the BBC.
The actor is set to film a pilot of the show this week, and the programme has been compared to Family Fortunes.
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The new programme will see families go head-to-head in seven rounds of general knowledge trivia and the first episode is being filmed onThursday (18.10.18).
Last month, Alfonso reunited with his Fresh Prince co-stars more than 20 years after the show went off the air.
He was joined by former castmates, Will, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Daphne Maxwell Reid and Joseph Marcell.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday at 6.45pm on BBC One.
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