RTÉ HAS ANNOUNCED that Dancing With The Stars has been cancelled for 2021, due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.

RTÉ said it would try to bring the show back in 2022, but did not make any firm commitments.

RTÉ’s Head of Entertainment John McHugh said that he was “extremely disappointed” that Dancing With The Stars cannot be produced due to the risks created by the coronavirus pandemic.

“After much discussion, we feel the risks are too high with a production of this scale to proceed with the series in 2021 and we hope to revisit the show in 2022,” said McHugh.

“We understand that the many fans of the series will be disappointed with this decision. However, given the unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19 and our duty of care, we believe this decision is the right one,” said McHugh.

The show, which has been on air since 2017, was due to enter its fifth season.

RTÉ has said that it will continue to work on other projects and that it is currently in discussion with the BBC to try and bring back Dancing With The Stars in 2022.  

RTÉ is also planning on announcing its autumn schedule of programming across TV, radio and online in the coming weeks.

RTÉ presenter Lottie Ryan won the last season, which aired on 15 March, beating back competition from Grainne Gallanagh, Aidan Fogarty and Ryan Andrews.