IRELAND’S SET TO follow in the footsteps of the US and UK and have its own version of Strictly Come Dancing.
RTÉ announced this evening that it will air Dancing with the Stars in the New Year, when it will replace The Voice on Sunday nights on RTÉ One.
Dancing with the Stars is the international version of the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing, and has been licensed to over 50 countries including South Africa, India, New Zealand, Italy, USA and Columbia.
The Irish version of the show will see 11 well-known celebrities paired with professional ballroom dancers, who will compete each week. If it follows the same format as the UK show, judges and the audience will get to have their say on who wins.
The US version of the show has run for 22 seasons, since 2005, and its most recent series saw 10 million people tuning in for the finale.
Strictly Come Dancing, meanwhile, has run since 2004, and drew in 12 million viewers for its December 2015 finale.
Adrian Lynch, Channel Controller of RTÉ One and RTÉ2, described the show as “a global phenomenon”, saying RTÉ is “confident that Irish audiences will take this home-grown version to their hearts”.
After five hugely successful seasons of The Voice Of Ireland now is a perfect time to refresh the Sunday evening entertainment slot with one of the world’s best-loved formats.
But who will be Ireland’s version of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman? And what about the celebrity dancers?
Tell us who you’d like to see on the show in the comments.
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