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Same-sex duo quits UK's 'Strictly' as one catches COVID-19
The first same-sex dance partners ever to compete in Britain's "Strictly Come Dancing" show have withdrawn after one contracted COVID-19.
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The first same-sex dance partners ever to compete in Britain's 'Strictly Come Dancing' show have withdrawn after one contracted COVID-19. (Shutterstock/Chloe Langton)
T
he first same-sex dance partners ever to compete in Britain's Strictly Come Dancing show have withdrawn after one contracted COVID-19, the BBC said in a statement.
The double Olympic British boxing champion Nicola Adams and the Russian professional dancer Katya Jones began competing last month, in the first such same-sex partnership in the show's 16-year history.
Adams is openly gay and hailed the dance partnership as "nice for the LGBT community".
Jones has contracted the virus and is asymptomatic and the two are self-isolating separately, the BBC show said in a statement.
Adams was quoted as saying said that she was "absolutely devastated" to be leaving the competition.
The two women made their debut performance on October 17 and the launch show achieved the highest ratings for three years.
Strictly Come Dancing is a dance competition broadcast on BBC television since 2004 where a celebrity is partnered with a professional dancer.
The highly successful format has been exported to more than 40 countries.
Although the show had included several performances by single-sex professional dancers, it had not previously given a celebrity a same-sex partner.
Jones became infected despite the show's makers imposing strict measures to prevent transmission.
Each dance couple formed a support bubble, with one living alone separately and allowed to visit the other in their household to comply with social distancing rules, according to the show's website.
After the show began, England entered a lockdown on November 5 that is set to last until December 2.
