The highly-anticipated 20th season of Strictly Come Dancing is reportedly going head-to-head with ITV’s The Voice and The Masked Dancer.
The likes of Eastenders star James Bye, singer Fleur East, actress Kym Marsh, presenter Helen Skelton, and footballing legend Tony Adams, are set to enter the ballroom on September 17.
Meanwhile, The Voice is returning next month too, with a reported huge shake-up of no live shows and pre-recorded episodes only.
ITV’s The Masked Dancer is returning for series two, with a crop of secret stars ready to show off their moves while disguising their secret identities.
However, with all three popular shows heading to our screens around the same time, reports of a fiery TV war have begun.
The Mirror claims that ITV ‘rolled over’ last year, only battling quizzes and game shows against the BBC’s popular Strictly.
But now, Strictly Come Dancing will be airing on Saturday nights at the same time as The Masked Dancer and The Voice UK, which used to air on BBC before moving to ITV in 2017.
This follows ITV saying its schedule is ‘jam-packed with unmissable entertainment.’
It was also recently reported that Strictly bosses are suffering a ‘major headache’ amid ‘fears that the finale will be taken off air for The World Cup’.
It’s unknown as of yet how long the 20th series will be running for, as according to The Daily Star, tickets are only available for live shows until November 26.
This comes amid reports that the Strictly bosses are fearing that the final shows will clash with The World Cup, which is scheduled to start on Monday, November 21.
The Cup, which is being held in Qatar this year, has games on Saturdays December 3 and 10, at 7pm which would be around Strictly times.
Strictly Come Dancing 2022 line-up in full
– Richie Anderson
A source told the publication: ‘It is a major headache and die-hard fans will be fuming if Strictly gets taken off air because of the football.’
They continued: ‘Viewers have already had a summer of sport messing around with their favourite TV shows.’
It is also reported that BBC and ITV have agreed which games the broadcaster’s will air until the end of November.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC on Saturday, September 17.
