Bruno Tonioli is expected to miss this year's 'Strictly Come Dancing' final.
Bruno Tonioli
The show judge hasn't been on the panel during this year's series due to coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions, as he is in the US - where he films 'Dancing with the Stars' - and despite bosses hoping he might be back for the semi-final or finale, he doesn't look likely to make either.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Bruno has been umming and ahhing about this for weeks.
"But him and the BBC have decided that it’s nowhere near essential for him to fly halfway around the world for a few hours work so they’ll make do without him."
Bruno has been appearing on the show via video link, but hasn't been judging the dancers.
This comes after 'Strictly' pro Anton Du Beke had to step in on the panel for judge Motsi Mabuse earlier this month, after she had to self-isolate due to returning home to Germany for an emergency.
Following his panel debut on November 14th, Anton admitted he struggled to give "short and succinct" critiques.
He explained: "I absolutely loved every second of it. I felt comfortable, it’s not like I haven’t got any experience in talking about dancing, and it was lovely to be able to just sit there and enjoy the dancing and then comment on all the things I loved about it, which was really always going to be my steer to be honest.
"The worst part is you don’t have very long to get your point across, and anyone who has met me knows that short and succinct isn’t really my game.
"Why let a short answer get in the way of a rambling long monologue? For me, that’s a nightmare. ‘Shorter, shorter’ they kept telling me! I was going, ‘Honestly, I’ve barely said hello.' "
Motsi is expected to be back in the studio for Saturday's (28.11.20) show.