Anton du Beke hopes 'Strictly Come Dancing' will return as planned despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Emma Barton and Anton du Beke
The 53-year-old ballroom dancer is keeping his fingers crossed that the celebrity dancing competition will go ahead later this year - with the show's pros due to start work in August - with the UK currently under lockdown due to the respiratory disease.
Appearing on 'The Steph Show' via a live stream on Monday morning (30.03.20), he told Steph McGovern: "I should think the pre-production of it should be going ahead as normal.
"It's when we get into the studio - the pros get into the studio in August ... so hopefully we will be out of it [lockdown] by then, so hopefully we can get back into the studio."
Anton is hoping the BBC One ballroom show will lift people's spirits after being told not to leave their houses during the unprecedented period.
He added: "If not, the actual live stuff doesn't start until about September, so we're hoping we'll be out of it by then and back to some sort of normality. I think everyone will be ready for a bit of 'Strictly Come Dancing' by then!"
His comments come after a number of shows, soaps and upcoming movies have postponed production over fears of the virus.
Channel 4 has become the latest broadcaster to change their daily schedule to adjust to the pandemic having halted filming on 'Hollyoaks' following rival soap operas 'EastEnders' and 'Coronation Street' to protect their cast crew from catching the potentially deadly illness.
Meanwhile, Anton's return to 'Strictly' follows two of his fellow professional dancers announcing they have quit the show before the upcoming series.
AJ Pritchard - who first appeared in 2016 - is the latest choreographer to leave the BBC show to focus on presenting jobs with his 24-year-old brother Curtis.
He follows in the footsteps of Kevin Clifton, who decided to leave the show earlier this month after seven years as he felt younger stars deserved to be given an opportunity.
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