Dianne Buswell and Luba Mushtuk to star in Strictly tour coming to Birmingham
Strictly Come Dancing’s Dianne Buswell and Luba Mushtuk will return for next year’s The Professionals show in Birmingham following their early exits from the current series.
Buswell, who made it to last year’s final with Joe Sugg, made a shock exit from the show at the weekend along with celebrity partner Dev Griffin, becoming the third to leave the series.
In her first Strictly stint with a partner, Mushtuk was the first casualty of the series with former rower James Cracknell.
They are among the 10 Strictly dancers who will take the programme’s glitz and glamour to venues across the UK in May and June, including a stop-off at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on May 17.
The line-up also includes Oti Mabuse, Katya Jones, Karen Hauer and Neil Jones.
Fan favourite and former Strictly finalist Gorka Marquez, who does not have a celebrity partner this series, will return for the tour, which will see Strictly’s professionals perform for audiences in what is billed as an “explosion of electrifying dance”.
The team is completed by Nadiya Bychkova, Johannes Radebe and Graziano Di Prima. Kevin Clifton, Amy Dowden, AJ Pritchard, Aljaz Skorjanec, Janette Manrara and Giovanni Pernice are among the Strictly dancers who will be absent from the tour.
The Professionals tour takes place months after the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour, which kicks off at Birmingham Arena on January 16 and runs over three nights.
It includes some of the celebrities from this year’s series, which continues to attract bumper viewing figures for the BBC on Saturday and Sunday nights.
The series in now in week five and this week’s show follows the surprise elimination of Dev Griffin, 34 and pro partner Dianne Buswell, 30.
Their controversial exit left fans, contestants and judges shocked as they left the ballroom after just four weeks. former England goalkeeper David, James 49, and Nadiya Bychkova, 30, are tipped to be next couple to leave the dancing competition.
They scored their highest mark of the series last week but were today favourite with Coral bookmakers to leave the competition.
Odds
The odds for David to be the next contestant to leave the competition this weekend are 6/5.
The Professionals tour will open at The Lowry in Salford on May 7, before travelling to London, Nottingham, Blackpool, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Hull, Newcastle, Cardiff, Plymouth, Brighton, Bournemouth and Glasgow.
It ends its run at the Edinburgh Playhouse on June 4.
