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Janette Manrara to be separated from husband by safety guidelines

Janette Manrara will spend weeks away from her husband during this year’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.

The 36-year-old professional dancer – who wed co-star Aljaz Skorjanec in 2017 – could be separated from him for weeks, as BBC bosses are planning to keep this year’s celebrity contestants in a bubble with their dance partners to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

She told the Daily Star newspaper: "When it comes to dancing with our celebrity partners, Aljaz will have his and I will have mine.

"Depending on the bubbling guidelines and what’s happening with the government at the time, we might not even be together at all."

For the group routines, Janette fears she won’t be able to touch her husband as she could be partnered with another star from the show.

She said: "In the group numbers as well, we are husband and wife but because we are all going to be dancing together I might not even dance with Aljaz.

"I might be dancing with Johannes [Radebe], so we have no advantage for being husband and wife. If anything, it’s harder because I might see Aljaz in the studio and not be able to touch him. That’s gonna be really tough.

"The only advantage that we get is that we can always FaceTime each other and go, ‘I love you baby … How was your celeb today?’"

However, Janette is thrilled the BBC show is returning after much discussion, as she feels the country could do with some glitz and glamour following the nationwide lockdown.

She explained: "The fact ‘Strictly’ is coming back is the best news the UK audience can get. We need some positivity, joy, escapism and happiness.

"I think it’s going to be one of the most special years because of the fact we are to have so many different parameters that we need to maintain, but we are still going to push forward and make a show. So for us it’s going to be really special."