Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse will perform a socially distanced routine on the 'Strictly Come Dancing' launch show.
Oti Mabuse and Kelvin Fletcher
Last year's winners are set to reunite as the new series of the BBC Latin and ballroom competition gets underway, but the former 'Emmerdale' actor and his pro partner will have to be kept separate to avoid potentially spreading the coronavirus.
Oti has been assigned a celebrity partner for the upcoming show, and all couples have been isolating in their own bubbles to ensure 'Strictly' can go ahead as planned.
A source told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre TV column: "Kelvin and Oti can’t get anywhere near as close as they are used to because of the danger of infection, which would throw a huge spanner in the works.
"But viewers will be intrigued to see how it will work. The show’s creative team have all sorts of tricks up their sleeve.
“These include potentially using a perspex screen between the dancers, as on some of Strictly’s counterparts in other countries.”
Producers are working hard to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the new series amid the global health crisis.
As well as fewer contestants and a shorter series, the judges - Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas and Motsi Mabuse - will sit at socially distacned desks, while there will be a smaller studio audience sat around tables.
Craig recently suggested the coronavirus restrictions could "magnify the joy or the pain" for this year's contestants.
He said: "There are the bubbles – and if you’re in a bubble, you’re stuck with that person – there is no getting out of it. If two people don't necessarily get on ... it will either magnify the joy, or the pain!
"People will be a little on edge – that will spark up relationships. It remains to be seen, will the dancing be better, or suffer? It's getting mentally prepared for that and coping with nerves."
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