Strictly Come Dancing undergoes a major scheduling shake-up with live shows airing on Fridays and Sundays to avoid World Cup clashes.
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Viewers have been tuning in to Strictly Come Dancing on Saturdays for 18 years and 20 seasons.
But there will be a big shake-up this year, as the World Cup forced BBC bosses to tweak Strictly’s schedule to avoid clashes.
The sporting event is being held in winter this year for the first time, due to the intense summer heat in the Middle East.
Time change: There will be a major shake-up this year as the World Cup forced BBC bosses to change Strictly’s time to avoid clashes (Tony Adams and Katya Jones pictured in October)
To avoid all possible clashes between football matches and Strictly, there will now be live shows on Fridays and Sundays, instead of the usual Saturday.
The shows this will affect are the quarterfinals and semi-finals, which were supposed to air on December 3 and December 10 respectively.
A Strictly spokesperson confirmed to MailOnline: “Strictly Come Dancing will continue to bring glitz, glamor and glorious dancing to homes across the country during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
Avoid clashes: To avoid all possible clashes between football matches and Strictly, there will now be live shows on Fridays and Sundays, instead of the usual Saturday (Will Mellor and Nancy Xu pictured in October)
“The Strictly Come Dancing quarter-final will now be broadcast live on Friday 2nd December and the semi-final will now be broadcast live on Sunday 11th December on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.”
This would suggest that the dance show finale will air on Saturday, December 17.
The scheduling chaos has been caused by the Qatar-hosted World Cup, a controversial decision that has sparked much backlash.
Change: The sporting event will take place in winter this year for the first time, due to the intense summer heat in the Middle East (Pictured Gareth Southgate)
Backlash: David Beckham has faced a lot of criticism for striking a £10m deal to promote the World Cup in Qatar
The tournament’s move to winter has affected the Premier League and Championship seasons.
In addition, the nation’s questionable human rights record, particularly against gay women and men, has been called into question.
David Beckham has faced much criticism for agreeing to a £10m deal to promote the World Cup in Qatar.
Last month, the former England captain released a promotional video describing the Middle Eastern nation as “perfection”.