RTE's 'Dancing with the Stars' will not be returning to our screens this January.
Season five of 'Dancing with the Stars' has been pushed back one year until 2022, according to the head of entertainment over at RTE, John McHugh.
RTE released a statement which quoted McHugh as saying: "We are extremely disappointed not to be in a position to produce series five of 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2021. After much discussion, we feel the risks are too high with a production of this scale to proceed with the series in 2021 and we hope to revisit the show in 2022.
"We understand that the many fans of the series will be disappointed with this decision. However, given the unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19 and our duty of care, we believe this decision is the right one. We will continue to work with Larry Bass and ShinAwiL on other projects and will be conducting ongoing discussions with them and the BBC to try and bring back 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2022."
Last year's 'Dancing with the Stars' saw the likes of 'Love Island' contestant Yewande Biala, 'Big Brother' winner Brian Dowling, and B*Witched singer Sinead O'Carroll take to the dancefloor. 2fm radio presenter Lottie Ryan ended up taking home the trophy last March.
The news puts the future of a lot of other live broadcast TV shows in doubt going forward. Chances are that the BBC version, 'Strictly Come Dancing', may not be going ahead either - but rumours are already circulating about who the lineup will be for the new season later this year.
RTE are due to make an announcement regarding their autumn schedule of TV programming in the coming weeks.
