Dancing With The Stars will return for a socially distanced special show next year.
The popular series ended at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, with fans left devastated upon the show’s announcement that it would not be returning in 2021 “given the unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19”.
However, it has now been confirmed by The Irish Independent that several contestants from previous years have been filming at RTÉ studios in recent days in preparation for a special show set for January 2021.
“We are making a highlights programme made up of highlights of previous series, mixed with interviews from previous contestants and presenters,” show boss Larry Bass told the publication.
The special is set to look back on the highlights from previous four seasons of the hit show, which has seen Aidan O’Mahony, Jake Carter, Mairead Ronan and Lottie Ryan take home the crown.
Commenting on the decision to cancel next year’s season, John McHugh, RTÉ’s Head of Entertainment said at the time: “We are extremely disappointed not to be in a position to produce series five of Dancing with the Stars in 2021.”
“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”
He continue: “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.”
“We will continue to work with Larry Bass and ShinAwiL on other projects and will be conducting ongoing discussions with them and the BBC to try and bring back Dancing with the Stars in 2022.”
