DO I have to break the travel ban, head south incognito and shackle myself to the gates of Elstree Studios?

If I thought any demonstration of public weeping and wailing at the stage door would make a difference, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

The news that England is to enter another lockdown has thrown the entire world (oh, okay, just me) into Strictly-related turmoil.

Will the show be cancelled? Will the painstaking months of creating isolation bubbles, socially-distanced studio seating and stand-alone judging pods all be for nothing?

Are our Saturday nights destined to be dull, soulless shadows of their former selves for the rest of 2020, with only endless re-runs of Pointless Celebrities and Danny Dyer yelling ‘The Wall!’ at people for entertainment?

Having given us a tantalising taste of what’s in store for the 2020 series – rocket-powered Maisie! Hilarious Bill! God-loves-a-tryer Jamie! – it’s just too cruel to think Strictly Come Dancing might now vanish from the schedules, whoosh, in a flash of glitter, just like that, leaving a handful of sobbing, fake-tanned celebrities and a bereft nation in its wake.

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The thought of life in the shadow of Covid, when it’s starting to get dark on the school run home and the dreich weather seeps into every pore whenever you step outside, is depressing enough – and that’s even without the horrors of what might happen in the US this week, or here in January, with Brexit on the horizon.

But winter without Strictly? It’s just too much.

Strictly is a little lighthouse of sparkle in a stormy sea, a delicious serving of fun and fabulous frocks to be savoured each Saturday evening, before reality rushes back in and we are once again in the grip of this grim Groundhog Day.

Apparently, some people do not enjoy Strictly - I even have ‘friends’ who do not watch it - but I am a huge fan (can you tell?)

One of the best things I’ve ever done in my life is to see the show live and it is one slick operation. The effort that goes on behind the scenes, from the technical teams, wardrobe, make-up, musicians and the stars themselves, is phenomenal. Having never seen a live TV show come together before, I was in awe.

The atmosphere in the studio is genuine and warm - for a few hours, it is, truly, like leaving the real world and its woes behind.

This year, more than ever, we could all do with a bit more of that.

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