There’s going to be a spare seat on the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ panel this week after it was announced that Bruno Tonioli will miss Saturday night’s show.
In news that will no doubt please head judge Shirley Ballas, who sits ducks and dives next to the Italian and his flapping arms, Bruno has a “prior work commitment”.
It’ll be the first time Bruno has missed a show in Strictly’s 13-year history, but he won’t be replaced with a guest judge.
Instead, it’ll be down to judges Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell and Shirley to dish out the scores as a trio.
A Strictly spokeswoman said: “As was always the plan, Bruno Tonioli is not on the judging panel this weekend due to a very busy work schedule.
“He will be back as normal for our Halloween special and the rest of the series.”
We’re only a few weeks in, but Bruno’s already had an eventful series.
He was blasted by some viewers after the first live show when he appeared to “grope” Shirley Ballas, while he offered his critiques to Alexandra Burke and Gorka Marquez.
One week later, Bruno made light of getting hands on with his fellow judge, when he delivered his verdict to Mollie King and AJ Pritchard following their Tango.
As he moved towards Shirley, he suddenly remembered the controversy that ensued last week, joking: “I didn’t touch anything! I didn’t touch anything!”
Bruno also came under fire from ‘Strictly’ professional dancer Brendan Cole over comments he made about Davood Ghadami and Nadiya Bychkova’s performance on the second live show.
Commenting upon the pair’s chemistry, Bruno suggested their Quickstep to ‘Last Nite’ was akin to “a race to the bedroom”.
His comments didn’t go down well with Brendan, who suggested the judge crossed a line with his critique, particularly as both Davood and Nadiya already have partners.
“If it was said about two single people, like Mollie and AJ, then maybe it would have been OK – but both Davood and Nadiya have partners and children,” he said.