Strictly returns, hoping to ‘recover and move forward’

The woman behind the latest season of Strictly Come Dancing has said she hopes the show can “move forward” from recent controversies as it returns to TV screens.

“I’m not going to say that once the show is on air, everyone will forget about it,” Karen Smith, Strictly’s co-creator and first executive producer, told BBC News.

“But hopefully people can recover and move forward and learn from it, and remember that Strictly is fabulous, and people love it, people love taking part in it, they love watching it.”

The BBC One show – with its bright lights, sparkles and sequins – is back on Saturday night.

A brand new set of celebrities will be hitting the dancefloor, as the contest enters its 20th year.

But it’s faced a rocky few months, with a number of former contestants making allegations about the way they were treated on the show.

The BBC has responded to complaints by making changes behind the scenes.

From this year, there are chaperones in all rehearsal rooms, and there are also two new dedicated welfare producers.

The corporation has always insisted it would always take any issues seriously, and act when made aware of inappropriate behaviour.

The show itself has long been a mainstay of Saturday night TV, and its “familiarity” is one of the reasons for its popularity, Ms Smith said.

“The hosts might change or the judges might change, the celebrities are new, but Strictly is always the same.

“People look forward to the series coming back.”