It seems that Strictly Come Dancing bosses have dropped a huge hint as to who will be filling Len Goodman’s shoes when he retires after this series.
The BBC talent show is going on its 10th anniversary live tour and, with Bruno Tonioli unable to commit to it, have appointed a new judge in his place.
Len may still be there but the fact that former Strictly professional dancer Karen Hardy will now be at the top table, could give an indication as to who will get the nod after Len leaves.
Karen is a ballroom specialist, which will mean that she will fit well in Len’s seat and keep the equilibrium among the judges dance expertise.
She may be billed as a ‘guest judge’ on the live tour but it could be the opportunity to see how she interacts with the others and, more importantly, how she is received by the audience.
The tour, which will be hosted by 2015 semi-finalist and Countryfile presenter Anita Rani, will feature many celebrities from the highly-anticipated 14th series of the show, which begins on BBC One tonight.
They will be joined by their professional dancers to recreate their most popular dance routines from the competition for the judges’ scores and for votes from the arena audiences, who can pick their favourites via text message and have the power to decide who wins the coveted Glitter Ball Trophy at the end of each show.
The 30-show tour will open at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham on January 20 2017 and will visit Newcastle, Sheffield, Glasgow, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and London.
Len said: “The live tour always has such a great atmosphere and the 10th anniversary tour will definitely be one to remember, especially as this will come as I complete my final year on the TV series as head judge.
“Rest assured audiences, this tour will be a 10 from Len!”
Craig, who will direct the extravaganza for the seventh year, added: “I am very pleased to be back on tour with legendary Len and also welcoming Karen to the tour’s judging panel.
“This 10th year is going to be bigger and better than ever before. We’ll be pulling out all the stops to make sure that this anniversary tour is the best yet!”
Tickets for the tour go on sale at 10am on September 23.