The winner of Strictly Come Dancing will lift the glitterball trophy on Saturday after AJ Odudu had to pull out at the last minute over an ankle injury.
Soap star Rose Ayling-Ellis and partner Giovanni Pernice and baker John Whaite and partner Johannes Radebe will go head-to-head for the trophy after Odudu suffered a torn ligament.
Her withdrawal means just two pairs will compete in the final, performing three routines each. It is unclear how this will impact the format of the show, which is due to run for more than two hours.
Among the dances that will be performed will be Ayling-Ellis’s widely praised couple’s choice routine, about her experiences as a deaf person.
Either Whaite or Ayling-Ellis would make history as winner of the show – Whaite as part of the show’s first male same-sex couple or Ayling-Ellis as the first deaf contestant.
The series went ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic, with strict measures backstage to keep the cast and production crew safe.
However, judge Craig Revel Horwood, dancer Amy Dowden and contestants Judi Love and Tom Fletcher have all tested positive for coronavirus over the series.
Judge Motsi Mabuse was also absent for a week after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
Comedian Robert Webb and partner Dianne Buswell withdrew from the show over the TV star’s ill health, while former rugby player Ugo Monye was sidelined by a back injury.
It is “highly unlikely” Britain or its allies will send troops to defend Ukraine if it is invaded by neighbouring Russia, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said. US intelligence claims Russia has stationed about 70,000 troops near the border of Ukraine and has begun planning for a possible invasion as soon as early next year. Mr Wallace and Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Yuriyovych Reznikov issued a joint statement on November […]
