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Zimbabwean fans of DStv’s Strictly Come Dancing are thrilled with the action on the dance floor in the 19th series of the famed live dance show, now into its fourth week of broadcast on the BBC Brit channel.
Liz Dziva, publicity and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe, said the show was one of the most popular among dance enthusiasts within the DStv audience and the latest series was running on DStv just one week behind the original broadcasts on BBC in the United Kingdom.
“After a hitch because of Covid last year, the 2021 series is back to a full complement of 15 celebrities teamed up with professional dancers working their way towards reaching the final and winning the coveted Strictly glass trophy and winners’ title,” she said.
The show launched in the UK on September 18, followed a week later on DStv and will end at Christmas-time, with a finale featuring three remaining dance couples after the others have been voted out by the UK viewing public.
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkelman return as show hosts for 2021, while three judges are also back: head judge Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood. A new judge has joined the panel this year: with Anton du Beke – for 18 years a member of the team of professional dancers – taking over from Bruno Tonioli, who has commitments in the United States.
The celebrities this year include stage, screen, and television actors Nina Wadia, Katie McGlynn, Greg Wise, and Rose Ayling-Ellis, the latter the first deaf competitor in the show’s 19-year history. Others include comedians Robert Webb and Judi Love, TV presenters AJ Odudu, Dan Walker, and Rhys Stephenson, Olympic gold medallist and world swimming star Adam Peaty, UK rugby international Ugo Monye and McFly singer Tom Fletcher, Dragons’ Den investor Sara Davies and chef Tilly Ramsay, daughter of famed superstar chef Gordon Ramsay. Great British Bake-Off winner John Whaite makes history as the celebrity half of an all-male dance couple.
So far in the series as seen in Southern Africa, Nina Wadia and Katie McGlynn have been the first two celebrities voted out. In the UK, the live dance competition segment airs on Saturday nights, with the results showing the following evening, but on DStv the two shows are screened back to back, starting at 7 pm each Sunday.
“It’s a show with loads of glitz, glamour, and competition, and audiences enjoy seeing the celebrities learn to dance and work their way up the ladder of experience and expertise,” said Ms. Dziva.
“Indications are that viewers regard the competitors of 2021 as the best in the show’s history, underlined by the very high scores already being seen this early in the show run.”