Strictly Come Dancing curse will strike again in 2020 as couples ‘isolate together’ says Craig Revel Horwood
CRAIG Revel Horwood has sparked fears that the Strictly Come Dancing 'curse' will strike this year if pairs have to isolate together.
The Strictly judge, 55, says telly bosses may make celebrities and their professional partners live together to keep in line with social distancing rules.
But during a chat on , hosts Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston pointed out a major flaw - the so-called Strictly curse.
Over the years, a number of celebrities and professionals have fallen foul of the 'curse', which has led to relationship break-ups and even divorce.
Jamie warned: "Craig, you mentioned the contestants may be quarantined in couples, is that wise?"
Amanda added: "Bearing in mind what normally happens [laughs]."
Newly-engaged Craig replied, laughing: "This is all speculation, it could change!
"You’re allowed to meet one person now aren’t you so it might even go to two..."
One of the most famous cases of the Strictly curse is documentary maker Stacey Dooley, who split with her boyfriend Sam after winning the show in 2018 with Kevin Clifton.
Stacey and Kevin are still in a relationship now.
Professionals Neil and Katya Jones split in 2019, 10 months after Katya was pictured kissing her 2018 partner Seann Walsh.
Louise Redknapp’s marriage also ended up "under strain" following her appearance on the show. She has since divorced from husband Jamie.
This year's series of Strictly Come Dancing is still on course to go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.
But show bosses are frantically looking at alternative ways of producing the show to keep in line with Government guidelines.
The 'isolation' idea Craig was referring to is taken from the Australian version of the dance show. Down Under, celebrities and their dance partners have been living and training alone together for two weeks.
Once the 14 days is up, and providing neither are showing symptoms of Covid-19, they can get close and dance together on the show.
Craig explained: "We’ve done it in Australia and that worked really really well, where they were dancing in isolation.
"The couple have spent the two weeks together, making sure that they were safe obviously, and in their hotel rooms rehearsing and then they filmed it on top of the hotel, on the rooftop and it was amazing."
Craig shares the thoughts of fans, who are desperate for Strictly to go ahead to bring them some much-needed cheer in the lead up to Christmas.
He also stressed that there are many dances which do not require physical contact.
"Let’s face it, Anne Widdecombe didn’t touch many people, she was mainly flying in the air when she danced," Craig added. "I’m just saying."
He continued: "There are ways around it and plus, it will be the same format but a different guise.
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"It will be interesting, I think, and it will be very, very exciting and of course, the nation want it.
"You have to remember that we all want it to happen, we’re really gunning for it to happen because people need something wonderful to look forward to on a Saturday night leading up to Christmas.
"No one wants to be miserable, so it’s nice to have something on telly that’s family friendly because we’re all stuck at home."