Stacey Dooley reveals her plans for huge change to Strictly Come Dancing format

Strictly Come Dancing logo
(Image credit: BBC)

This would be VERY different...

Stacey Dooley has shared a great change she thinks Strictly Come Dancing 2020 should make to its format, inspired by the coronavirus crisis.

The investigative journalist, who was crowned winner of the 2018 series of the BBC dance contest, has explained she reckons a fab way to pay tribute to the UK's key workers to helped keep the country going in the peak of the pandemic should be the stars of 2020's series of Strictly.

A photo posted by on

Speaking on Heart radio, Stacey insisted the line-up for this year's instalment of the glitzy show should follow the country's coronavirus heroes learning to dance, instead of the usual famous faces.

Admitting she and her pro ballroom dancer boyfriend, Kevin Clifton, had come up with the idea, she said, "I was speaking to Kev - I'd have given it to the people this year, I'd have given it to the people.

"The NHS, the post office girls - I would have given it to them," she added.

"It's such a loved show isn't it! Such a great show."

A photo posted by on

This comes after it was reported that Strictly will run for a limited time this year and will begin in October, in light of the disruptions caused in the telly production world by the health crisis.

The smash hit programme usually goes on for a long 13 weeks, but this year it'll be on our screens for just nine.

A statement said, "The Strictly Come Dancing team are doing everything they can to bring the nation plenty of Strictly magic later this year.

"To ensure we deliver the high standards audiences know and love, and in light of the ongoing considerations around COVID-19, this year's series of Strictly will have a slightly shorter run than usual.

"The safety of our cast and crew is of the utmost importance to us and further updates will be made in due course."

Caitlin Elliott

Caitlin is Junior News Editor for woman&home, covering all things celeb, fashion, beauty and lifestyle. 


Having set her sights on becoming a magazine journalist when she was a child, Caitlin took on work experience stints at local papers and titles such as Cosmopolitan, Now, Reveal and Take a Break while studying for her Multimedia Journalism degree and has interviews with celebs, reality stars and the Archbishop of Canterbury under her belt (of course, she couldn't resist asking him about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry). After leaving uni, she dabbled in fashion PR as a Press Assistant for Topshop before becoming a part of the Now team at Future for her first real job in the world of online journalism, joining the ranks as a Digital Writer in 2019. Caitlin went on to add the likes of Woman, GoodtoKnow, WhatToWatch and woman&home to her writing repertoire before moving on to her current role. 


When she's not working you'll find Caitlin sipping bubbles at brunch with her besties, thinking about her next iced coffee, trying to close the rings on her Apple Watch, scrubbing up on her royal family knowledge or scrolling through the Zara app, trying to resist tapping 'check out' again.