Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec are to appear on the first celebrity edition of ‘Escape to the Country’.

Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec are joining the celeb edition of Escape to the Country

Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec are joining the celeb edition of Escape to the Country

The married ex ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ professionals will hunt for a potential country pile across the Home Counties on the five-part BBC One series - alongside former ‘I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!’ star Christopher Biggins, 74, Bucks Fizz icon Cheryl Baker, 69, television personality Dr Ranj Singh, 44, and ‘The Chase’ star Jenny Ryan, 41.

John Comerford, Head of production company Naked West, said: “We love helping prospective rural dwellers find their dream homes and we’re delighted the BBC have commissioned this special series giving us all an insight into our favourite celebrities’ lives as they look to swap the city for a new home in the country.”

Julie Shaw, BBC Daytime and Factual's commissioning editor, said: “Escape to the Country has been a staple in the BBC daytime schedule for 21 years. Audiences love this programme and watching the journeys the house-hunters go on, so it was about time we got to go house hunting with some famous faces. I can’t wait for this to land in the schedules.”

Janette, 39, and Aljaz, 33, and their rural lifestyle dreams will be featured on the first star-studded version of the long-running real estate programme which kicks off next month.

The couple's new project comes after they became parents to daughter Lyra back in July.

Janette told Digital Spy last month: "She’s incredible. She’s the best, best baby," she said of Lyra. "I think we really lucked out because she sleeps alright, she doesn’t cry a lot and she’s just happy, she smiles all the time."

Janette added their journey to motherhood had felt “really natural” and that Aljaz becoming a father had improved their marriage as she enthused about being a working mother.

She said: "I was already in love with him before but to see him now. He’s such a good father to Lyra. It changes everything and takes our relationship to the next level.”

"He’s doing daddy daycare at the moment whilst I’m down in London filming ‘It Takes Two’. So there’s lots of FaceTimes and lots of videos going forward to see how she’s doing."

Janette went on to praise everyone competing on the BBC One Latin and ballroom competition this year - which includes broadcaster Angela Rippon, 79, actor Layton Williams, 29, and newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy, 53 - and saying its “anyone’s game”.

She said: “Everyone’s so good. It’s literally anyone’s game. I'm intrigued to see what's going to happen."

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