Janette Manrara confirms she’s ‘no longer a part’ of Strictly Come Dancing

By Pierra Willix, Press Association Senior Entertainment Reporter

Janette Manrara has announced she is “no longer a part” of Strictly Come Dancing or its spin-off show It Takes Two.

Since the exit of the BBC series’ long-time hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman last year, there has been a shake-up of the line-up, with five professional dancers recently revealed to be leaving the show.

Manrara was also widely rumoured to be facing the axe, and has now confirmed she has left the series.

In a video posted on her YouTube account, she said: “Strictly Come Dancing has changed hugely, and I am no longer a part of It Takes Two or the main show.

“I’ll still be involved in other ways. But that just means that I’m free to pursue and do many other projects that I’ve always wanted to do and never really thought about doing.

“Strictly is all I’ve known for the last 14 years so it is a bit like, ‘Oh, we’re going into a different world, a different space, how are we going to navigate that?’.”

Manrara, 42, joined the series in 2013 as a professional dancer, before leaving in 2020.

The following year she took over from Zoe Ball as the host of It Takes Two, alongside Rylan Clark and then Fleur East.

During her time on Strictly, Manrara – who is married to Slovenian dancer and former co-star Aljaz Skorjanec – was paired with celebrities including Peter Andre, Aston Merrygold, Melvin Odoom and Dr Ranj Singh.

After months of rumours that several cast members had been cut from the show, it was confirmed that professional dancers Karen Hauer, Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas would not be returning.

Last month it was announced that Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe would be the new hosts of the main show, set to start this autumn.

In April Manrara responded to speculation that she could be in the running for one of the jobs.

During an appearance on BBC Breakfast, she said: “I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and find out.

“I think everyone at the moment is a bit on standby, so we’ll see what happens.”

Appearing on the show with her husband to promote their Let’s Face The Music And Dance tour, Manrara also expressed her gratitude for her involvement with Strictly over the years.

“We’re very, very lucky. The show (Strictly) has given us this beautiful platform to be able to go off and do the tours that we do, and we don’t take it for granted, and in my opinion – and I think Aljaz will agree – it’s the best entertainment show on telly,” she said.

“I’m just so happy that it’s been a part of our lives for so many years. I mean, we were just dating when we started the show, and during the show, we got married, we became parents. It’s just been phenomenal.”

The BBC has been contacted for comment.