With the return of Strictly Come Dancing still a long way off, fans of the show are currently wondering what the judging panel will look like when the new series airs.
For the past two years, regular judge Bruno Tonioli has been unable to appear on the panel due to Covid travel restrictions, with long-running professional Anton Du Beke occupying his seat during the most recent series.
However, with restrictions now lifted, it’s not yet known whether Bruno will be back on the show for the first time since 2019 – and if he does come back, what does that mean for Anton?
Well, the show’s head judge Shirley Ballas has a solution.
Speaking on the red carpet of the RTS Awards, Shirley said (via The Mirror): “I hope Anton stays, but we could have five seats.
“I just did the [Strictly] tour with Bruno and he was on point and on form,” she added. “There is nobody like Bruno. He is a force to be reckoned with.”
Craig Revel-Horwood – the only Strictly judge to have appeared in every series – previously made similar comments about a five-judge panel.
“Bruno adds something Anton can’t and vice-versa, if you look at it that way, so I think they’ve both got different opinions which I think is perfectly good,” he told MailOnline.
“We could easily have five people on that panel. I think our time would be limited because there are only two minutes for the judges to talk but we would make it count.”
Anton has made no secret of his hopes to be made a permanent Strictly judge, while Bruno admitted he was “sad and frustrated” that restrictions and his TV commitments in America meant he couldn’t judge last year.
“If there’s no Covid and they want me, I’ll be back,” he claimed. “But they may say, ‘Anton was great, we don’t need you’.
“I’ll do something else. It’s like James Bond actors, I’ve done my stint. You cannot be desperate, if you start down that path you’ll go insane. I won’t be second best.”
Strictly will return for its landmark 20th series in the autumn.