Strictly: It Takes Two

*Strictly: It Takes Two* is the sister show of *Strictly Come Dancing*, currently presented by Janette Manrara and Fleur East. The show is broadcast every weeknight on BBC Two at 6:30pm, broadcasted alongside the main series on BBC One.

## History

*It Takes Two* started broadcasting alongside Series 2 of the main show in Autumn 2004, replacing the original companion show to the first series, *Strictly Come Dancing: On Three*, which had been broadcast on BBC Three, hosted by Justin Lee Collins.

The show was originally presented by Claudia Winkleman until 2010, where she moved to join Tess Daly to permanently co-host the main show. Following Winkleman’s move to the main show, former contestant and radio presenter Zoe Ball took over to host the show in 2011. Ball hosted the show by herself until 2019, where the BBC announced that Rylan Clark-Neal would join Ball as co-presenter. In 2021, Ball announced she would be leaving the show and during the summer, it was announced on *The One Show* that Strictly professional Janette Manrara would take over from Ball, co-hosting the show with Clark-Neal.

## Format

The weekday programme features highlights of the previous Saturday show's performances, interviews with the couples and training footage as they prepared for the next live show, and opinions with other celebrities who have been watching the show. Occasionally, the judges were also featured on the show to share their opinions of the couples' progress.

The show's broadcasts lasted half an hour on Mondays to Thursdays, with an extended one hour episode on Fridays, in front of a live audience.

### Presenter Schedule

For the 2019 series, the presenting schedule was amended, when Rylan Clark-Neal joined Zoe Ball to present the show.

In a feature for *It Takes Two* during the Week 1 live show of the main series, Rylan would present Mondays and Tuesdays, interviewing both the leaving couple on Monday, and the couple who was voted safe on Tuesday, meanwhile Zoe would present the show on Wednesdays and Thursdays, joined by Ian Waite and Vicky Gill. Zoe and Rylan then both co-presented on Fridays, with Gethin Jones as a roving reporter, attaining backstage action throughout the show.

In 2020, the schedule was adapted, with Zoe presenting the show from Monday to Wednesday, and Rylan presenting on Thursday and Friday, and in the 2021 series, Rylan presented on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and Janette presented on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

## Current *It Takes Two* Segments

*The current list of episode segments featured on the show*

* **Clifton's Choreography Corner**: Every Tuesday, Rylan is joined by Joanne Clifton to review the routine choreography from the previous week's main show. She also demonstrates the moves in a mini-segment called 'Demo Time'. This segment originally featured Strictly professional Karen Hardy, but following Hardy's departure in 2017, various former Strictly professionals have featured including Camilla Dallerup, Joanne Clifton, Natalie Lowe, Erin Boag, Kevin Clifton, Vincent Simone and Nadiya Bychkova. Clifton officially became the permanent lead for the segment since the twentieth series of the main show.
* **Manrara's Masterclass**: Every Wednesday, Janette is joined by a former celebrity contestant to teach viewers and the *It Takes Two* crew, a few steps from some of the *Strictly* dances. So far, celebrity guests have included Ashley Roberts, Dr. Ranj Singh and Kimberley Walsh. Viewers and Strictly fans were invited to send in clips of them attempting the steps, which were shown at the start of the following week's masterclass.
* **Puttin' on the Glitz**: On Thursday, Janette is joined by Strictly's head costume designer, Vicky Gill, to discuss the couples' costumes that the couples will be wearing in that week's live show.
* **Friday Panel**: On Friday, Janette and Rylan are joined by three or more celebrity fans of the show, where they review the song choice, costume and training footage of the couples ahead of the Saturday main show. Since the 2019 series, the Friday panel have also each been asked to predict which couple they believe would be eliminated that week.

Other occasional segments:

* **Strictly Pro Challenge**: The Strictly professionals are challenged to put various different dance techniques to the test against one another in a yearly competition.

* **Global Glitterballs**: A look at the various other versions of Strictly from across the world.
* **Strictly CV**: Strictly professionals and judges talk through their time on the show, including all of their highlights.

Previous segments:

* **Len's Masterclass**: Head judge Len Goodman joined Claudia Winkleman, demonstrating various dances to be performed on the following Saturday. This segment was discontinued, when Zoe Ball took over.
* **Stat Man**: Russell Grant appeared with a guide to the numbers of winners of Strictly.
* **Janette & Melvin's Cha Cha Chart Show**: Janette and her 2016 partner Melvin Odoom host a chart-based countdown of various past performances and iconic *Strictly* moments.
* **Ore's Overview**: Former *Strictly* champion Ore Oduba returns to give his say on all the couples' journeys so far.
* **Strictly Booth of Truth**: Professionals enter a booth and are individually asked questions about the other pro's personal habits.
* **Ballroom Bingo**: Anton du Beke asks the pro dancers questions about their fellow pros.
* **Ballas Breakdown**: Head judge Shirley Ballas explains and demonstrates steps from the dances.
* **Dance Card**: Zoe Ball chooses a dance for Head judge Shirley Ballas to demonstrate.
* **Craig's Rev-alations**: Every Monday, Craig reviewed the couples' choreography, performances and training room footage. Despite the segment being axed, Craig regularly returned during the 2018 series to discuss these on the Friday show.
* **Dance Master**: Every Tuesday, dance sensation Carmen taught Rylan the basic steps of one of the Strictly dances. As well as this, she explains the background and history of the different dance styles.
* **Waite's Warm Up**: Every Wednesday (Thursday originally), former professional Ian Waite reviewed training room footage of the couples and performances of the week before, giving his opinion on their preparation for the upcoming week and suggesting areas they need to improve before Saturday's show.
* **It Takes Who**: Strictly's professionals play a game of guess who about each other, revealing some surprising secrets.
* **Tunes on Tuesday**: A Tuesday sneak peek of some of the songs.

## Series Overview

### Series Notes

* Gethin Jones guest presented the show a few times during Series 14 and 16, whilst Ball was unwell and in Series 17, whilst Clark-Neal was self isolating due to COVID.

## Broadcast Studio

The show has been presented from many venues, from the Hospital Club and BBC Television Centre to the London Studios and Riverside Studios. In 2020 for Series 17, the show moved to Stage 6 at Elstree Studios, which was the first time Strictly's sister show was broadcast in the same studio complex as the main show since Series 9 in 2012.

## Ratings

According to the BBC, *It Takes Two* averages between two and three million viewers each evening, and is regularly the most watched show of the day during its broadcast period on BBC Two.