Coming to an arena near you, Janette Manrara has been announced as the host of the Strictly Come Dancing live arena tour in 2022, the first in two years.
Swapping her small screen presenting duties for a bigger setting come the new year, the Strictly pro-turned-host will host over 33 shows across the country in January and February next year.
Janette, 38, and husband Aljaz Skorjanec, 31, have both competed as professional dancers on the show various celeb partners since 2013, but this year she hung up her dancing shoes to replace Zoe Ball as the host of Strictly: It Takes Two.
Speaking of her new role as host for the Strictly Come Dancing Live Arena Tour tour, which is back after it was cancelled this year because of the pandemic, Janette revealed she is ‘absolutely thrilled’.
‘It’s a dream come true. It’s been two years since the last tour so the expectation and build-up has been huge.
‘We’ve been desperate to return to venues around the UK and now we’re finally back.’
However, her dancing days aren’t numbered yet as she hinted she may take to the ballroom floor on tour.
‘And you never know… you might just see me taking to the dance floor myself – I can’t wait, I’ve really missed it.’
The tour will also see her reunited with tour judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and fan favourite Bruno Tonioli, who isn’t on the panel in this year’s BBC series.
The long-time judge had no choice but to drop out of the current show due to uncertainty around travel restrictions between the UK and the US – he’s currently based in LA, doing a stint on the current series of Dancing With The Stars, with Strictly pro Anton Du Beke replacing him.
The live tour will be bigger and better than ever, Janette promised.
‘The show is going to be bigger than ever – with lots of glitter, lots of sparkles, lots of excitement and lots of incredible dance routines.’
The arena tour, which will be directed by Craig, will feature performances from the celebs and professional dancers we’ve grown to know and love from this year’s season.
The audience will then be able to vote for their favourite dance each night to decide who takes home the coveted Live Tour Glitterball Trophy after each show.
Meanwhile, Craig will miss this weekend’s Strictly episode after testing positive for Covid-19. It’s only temporary, as he’ll return the following week after his self-isolation ends.
The Strictly Come Dancing tour features dates in Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Glasgow, Nottingham and London.
It will take place in January and February next year, with the first dates kicking off at the Utilita Arena Birmingham on January 20.
Aljaz was recently voted off the show with Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies after losing Sunday’s dance-off battle to Tilly Ramsay and Nikita Kuzmin.
MORE : When is the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 final? Date, time and all the information you need
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