Strictly's Janette Manrara to replace Zoe Ball on 'It Takes Two'

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Janette Manrara is swapping the dancefloor for presenting duties.

Janette Manrara
Janette Manrara has been a Strictly professional dancer since 2013. (Image credit: BBC)

Janette Manrara is stepping down as a professional dancer on hit BBC series Strictly Come Dancing, to join Rylan Clark-Neal on its spin-off series It Takes Two. It has been confirmed that Janette will replace Zoe Ball, who has presented the programme for the past ten years.

Because of her new presenting role, Janette will no longer be dancing on Strictly Come Dancing 2021 but has stressed that her passion for dancing will definitely continue. She told the BBC: "I am still going to be seeing my fellow pros all the time and I will keep dancing, as they say. I will find a way to keep dancing.

"My mum and my dad at home and my family back in Miami, they were immigrants from a small Cuban family, they came over and now their daughter is hosting a huge dance show here in the UK."

She added: "They couldn't be prouder. I couldn't feel more privileged to be sharing this with such an awesome group of people."

Last month, Zoe confirmed she was leaving the programme and passing the presenter baton to someone else. She remains a huge fan of Strictly and even competed on the series in Season 3, making it all the way to the final.

Zoe shared her departure in an Instagram post last month, where she wrote: "Dance lovers, after 10 joyous years I am waltzing away from It Takes Two."

A post shared by Zoe Ball (@zoetheball)

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She added: "As a massive @bbcstrictly fan I have loved spending my Autumn teatimes with the celebrity dancers, the gorgeous & awesome pro dancers, the judges, my girl Vicky Gill, Rylan, Gethin & of course my main man Ian Waite. Time now for some new cha cha challenges. 

"I will continue to support the Strictly family on the Breakfast Show & can’t wait to watch the Class Of 2021 from my sofa. Huge love & grateful thanks to Tess & Claude & the whole Strictly clan, the ITT fans, my Glam Squad, Eve Winstanley, Alex McLeod, the BBC2 gang, & of course the best telly crew ever. I will miss you all immensely. As Iveta would say “Friends for the life“ xx"

Strictly Come Dancing is expected to return later this year.

Lucy Buglass
Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress!