Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two | |
---|---|
Also known as | Strictly: It Takes Two It Takes Two |
Developed by | BBC Studios |
Presented by | |
Starring |
|
Composers |
|
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 19 |
No. of episodes | 1,060 [1] |
Production | |
Production locations |
|
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Two |
Release | 25 October 2004 – present |
Related | |
|
Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two (also known as Strictly: It Takes Two or simply It Takes Two) is a British television programme, the companion show to the popular BBC One programme Strictly Come Dancing . First aired on 25 October 2004, it is broadcast from Monday to Friday during the run of the main show on BBC Two at 6:30 pm.
It Takes Two started broadcasting during the second series of the main show in Autumn 2004, replacing the companion show to the first series, Strictly Come Dancing: On Three, which had been broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three and hosted by Justin Lee Collins. Before the 2010 series, BBC Two Scotland did not broadcast the show on Thursdays, when locally produced Gaelic language programming aired in the slot instead, though during the 2008 and 2009 series the Thursday night show was carried as an alternative digital stream via BBC Red Button.
The show was originally hosted by Claudia Winkleman until 2010. In 2011, Zoe Ball took over as host. [2] On 18 April 2019, it was announced that Rylan Clark would be joining the show as a co-host alongside Ball. [3] On 17 May 2021, Ball revealed that she would be leaving the show after 10 years. [4] On 10 June 2021, it was announced on The One Show , that Janette Manrara would be taking over from Ball, hosting alongside Clark. [5] On 12 April 2023, it was announced that Clark would be stepping down from presenting the show after 4 years. Fleur East was announced as his replacement in June 2023. [6]
The programme features interviews and training footage of the couples competing in the main Saturday night show, opinions from the judges on the previous Saturday show and the training footage for the next, and interviews with celebrities who have been watching the show. The show features half-hour episodes each Monday to Thursday, with an extended one-hour episode on Friday in front of a live studio audience. During the show, the presenters are joined each week by regular dance experts, with Ian Waite, Karen Hardy, Neil Jones and Chloe Hewitt all being former contributors.
For the 2019 series, it was announced that Rylan Clark would join the programme as a co-host. He would present on Mondays and Tuesdays, interviewing both the leaving pair, and the other pair in the dance-off. Zoe Ball would then present the Wednesday and Thursday shows with Ian Waite and Vicky Gill. Clark and Ball co-presented on Friday, with Gethin Jones remaining as a roving reporter. [7]
This schedule was changed in 2020, with Ball presenting on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and Clark presenting on Thursdays and Fridays. [8] In the 2021 series, with Manrara replacing Ball, Clark was presenting on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays while Manrara did so on Wednesdays and Thursdays. In 2023, Fleur East replaces Clark and will host Monday and Tuesdays with Manrara continuing to host Wednesday and Thursday. The pair will alternate duties on a Friday.
The professional dancers put various different dance techniques to the test against one another in a yearly competition. [11]
Year | Winner | Dance Step | Number achieved |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Artem Chigvintsev | Botafogos | 79 |
2012 | Flavia Cacace | Kick ball change | 76 |
2013 | Kevin Clifton | Drunken sailors | 77 |
2014 | Karen Hauer and Aljaž Skorjanec | New Yorkers | 39 |
2016 | Giovanni Pernice | Jive kicks and flicks | 55 |
2017 | Giovanni Pernice | Charleston swivels | 24 |
2018 | Oti Mabuse | Toe-heel swivels | 48 |
2019 | Graziano Di Prima | Botafogos | 90 |
2020 | Nadiya Bychkova | Fleckerls | 25 |
2021 | Nadiya Bychkova | Patacakes | 38 |
2022 | Amy Dowden | Back Charleston kick-steps | 19 |
2023 | Lauren Oakley | Quickstep pendulums | 15 |
2024 | Kai Widdrington | Cha-cha-cha time steps | 15 |
In 2013, a new feature was shown, where dancer Natalie Lowe was set a challenge to teach a normal couple, known only as Gordon and Mel from Southampton, how to dance ahead of their wedding.
In 2014, Robin Windsor was set a challenge to teach the teachers of a school to dance for a performance for the school.
A live phone-in segment featured during the autumn 2004 series of the main show, where viewers could speak to the contestants on air.
Series | Start date | End date | Presenters | No. of weeks | Location(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 25 October 2004 | 10 December 2004 | Claudia Winkleman | — | 7 | h Studio |
3 | 17 October 2005 | 16 December 2005 | 9 | |||
4 | 7 October 2006 | 22 December 2006 | 12 | |||
5 | 8 October 2007 | 21 December 2007 | ||||
6 | 22 September 2008 | 19 December 2008 | 13 | TC11, BBC Television Centre | ||
7 | 20 September 2009 | 18 December 2009 | ||||
8 | 4 October 2010 | 17 December 2010 | 11 | |||
9 | 3 October 2011 | 16 December 2011 [b] | Zoe Ball | |||
10 | 8 October 2012 | 21 December 2012 | TC3, BBC Television Centre | |||
11 | 29 September 2013 | 20 December 2013 | 12 | Studio 7, The London Studios | ||
12 | 28 September 2014 | 19 December 2014 | ||||
13 | 27 September 2015 | 18 December 2015 | ||||
14 | 26 September 2016 | 16 December 2016 | ||||
15 | 25 September 2017 | 15 December 2017 | TC2, Television Centre | |||
16 | 24 September 2018 | 14 December 2018 | h Studio | |||
17 | 23 September 2019 | 13 December 2019 | Rylan Clark | |||
18 | 26 October 2020 | 18 December 2020 | 8 | Stage 6, Elstree Studios [12] | ||
19 | 27 September 2021 | 17 December 2021 | Janette Manrara | 12 | Studio 2, Riverside Studios | |
20 | 26 September 2022 | 16 December 2022 | Stage 6, Elstree Studios | |||
21 | 25 September 2023 | 15 December 2023 | Fleur East | |||
22 | 23 September 2024 | 13 December 2024 |
Presenters | Seasons | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ||
Claudia Winkleman | Main | Guest | Guest | |||||||||||||||||||
Zoe Ball | Guest | Guest | Main | |||||||||||||||||||
Rylan Clark | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
Janette Manrara | Guest | Main | ||||||||||||||||||||
Fleur East | Guest | Main |
The show has been presented from many venues. In 2017, the programme returned to the newly refurbished Studio TC2 at the Television Centre complex in West London. For the 2018 series, the show was broadcast from The Hospital Club TV Studio in London's Covent Garden, due to ITV Daytime programmes now occupying the Television Centre studios. In 2020, The show moved to Stage 6 at Elstree Studios, the first time It Takes Two has been broadcast from the same studio complex as the main show since 2012. [12]
The show averages between two and three million viewers each evening and is regularly the most watched show of the day on BBC Two.
Zoe Louise Ball is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and presented the children's show Live & Kicking, alongside Jamie Theakston from 1996 until 1999.
Strictly Come Dancing is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of judges. The title of the show is a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing. The format has been exported to 60 other countries under the title Dancing with the Stars, licensed by BBC Worldwide, and led to a modern dance-themed spin-off Strictly Dance Fever. The Guinness World Records named Strictly as the world's most successful reality television format in 2010. The series is currently presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. Bruce Forsyth co-presented the series with Daly until 2014.
Ian Waite is a British professional dancer specialising in Latin American dance, a teacher and choreographer.
Sport Relief was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002.
Melvin Kuuku Odoom is a British radio DJ and television presenter. Alongside Rickie Haywood-Williams and Charlie Hedges, he presented the Kiss FM breakfast show (2009–2018) and since then, on BBC Radio 1 (2019–present). In television, he has been involved in presenting Dick & Dom in da Bungalow (2002–2009), Basil's Swap Shop (2008), the BRIT Awards 2010 and Must Be the Music (2010), The Xtra Factor (2015), Bang on the Money (2016), and MOBO Awards 2016, as well as being a regular guest celebrity on many television shows. He was also a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2024.
Janette Manrara Škorjanec is a Cuban-American singer, television presenter, choreographer and professional dancer from Miami, Florida, US. Born to her Cuban parents, Luis and Maritza, Janette is the oldest of three. Originally a singer, learning from her Cuban family, she formally studied dance from the age of 19. Manrara is best known for her appearances on the US series So You Think You Can Dance and British dance reality television competition, Strictly Come Dancing. She is married to Slovenian dancer and co-star Aljaž Škorjanec. In June 2021, it was announced that Manrara would co host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two with Rylan Clark and later Fleur East.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its ninth series on 10 September 2011 with a launch show, with the live shows beginning on 30 September and 1 October 2011. The show was broadcast from Wembley Arena on 19 November with all proceeds going to the BBC charity, Children in Need. The finale took place in the Tower Ballroom at the Blackpool Tower and was the first episode to air in 3D. It was shown on BBC HD and in cinemas around the country.
Ross Richard "Rylan" Clark is an English broadcaster and television personality. He came to prominence as a contestant on the ninth series of the television talent show The X Factor in 2012, which he finished in fifth place. The following year, he appeared on the eleventh series of the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother, which he won.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its eleventh series beginning with a launch show on 7 September 2013, and the live shows beginning on 27 and 28 September 2013. Sir Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly returned to co-present the main show on BBC One, with Claudia Winkleman presenting the results show alongside Daly. Zoe Ball returned as presenter of Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two. Darcey Bussell, Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli also returned as judges.
Aljaž Škorjanec is a Slovenian dancer and choreographer, who is known for appearing on the BBC series Strictly Come Dancing as a professional dancer from 2013 to 2021, and from 2024 onwards.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its twelfth series beginning from 7 September 2014 with a launch show, and the live shows began on 26 and 27 September. Tess Daly returned to present the main show on BBC One alongside Claudia Winkleman, who was promoted to co-presenter in addition to the results show after Sir Bruce Forsyth departed the show after the eleventh series; however, Forsyth continued to host the Christmas and Children in Need specials. Zoe Ball returned as presenter of the spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two. Judges Darcey Bussell, Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli also returned.
Red Nose Day 2015 was a fund-raising event organised by Comic Relief. It was broadcast live on BBC One and BBC Two from the evening of Friday 13th March 2015 into the early hours of Saturday 14th March 2015. It was part of the "Face the Funny" campaign.
Strictly Come Dancing Live! is a nationwide arena tour in the United Kingdom which was first staged in 2008 and has continued every year since. It is directed and co-choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its seventeenth series with a launch show on 7 September 2019 on BBC One, and the live shows beginning on 21 September. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as hosts, while Zoe Ball returned to host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two alongside new addition Rylan Clark.
Richie Stephen Anderson is a TV and radio personality who works for the BBC. He is a former Sunday League footballer who played for Coombs Wood F.C.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its eighteenth series with a launch show on 17 October 2020 on BBC One, and the live shows beginning on 24 October. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the series launched a month later than usual and ran for only nine weeks instead of the usual thirteen. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as hosts, while Zoe Ball and Rylan Clark-Neal returned to host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two. Clark-Neal was replaced by Gethin Jones for four shows after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its nineteenth series with a launch show on 18 September 2021 on BBC One, and the live shows beginning on 25 September. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as hosts, while Rylan Clark-Neal returned to host Strictly: It Takes Two alongside new presenter Janette Manrara, who replaced Zoe Ball. In June 2021, the BBC announced that Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, and Craig Revel Horwood would return to the judging panel. Anton Du Beke, who served as a guest judge in the previous series, joined the panel in place of Bruno Tonioli, who did not return for the second year in a row due to travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its twentieth series with a launch show on 23 September 2022 on BBC One, with live shows beginning the following day on 24 September. The launch show was originally scheduled to be broadcast on 17 September, but was postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as hosts, while Rylan Clark and Janette Manrara returned to host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.