Strictly Come Dancing's spin-off It Takes Two introduced training room couple interviews on Wednesday (September 30), a first for the series, prompting a wave of fan reactions on social media.
The new format saw Ellie Taylor hand over to Strictly: Lights Up host Abi Clarke, who interviewed couples together from the training room. Abi caught up with Will Best and Dianne Buswell, Melanie Walters and Aljaž Škorjanec, and Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola.
Fans react to new interview format
Training room footage has featured on It Takes Two in previous years, but sit-down interviews from rehearsals are new. After watching the interviews, fans were quick to share their thoughts on X.
"So they are interviewing couples from the training room now," one person wrote. Another added: "Ah ok so we do get couple interviews in rehearsals by the new roving reporter for #ItTakesTwo which is slightly better to how it was all presented on Monday on how it will work."
Pro panel and continued backlash
Later in the episode, Ellie spoke to the first pro panel of the series, made up of Jowita Przystał, Julian Caillon, and Lauren Oakley. Some fans said they "really enjoyed" the panel, while others missed the live couple catch-ups.
"#ItTakesTwo needs to bring back interviewing the couple, not separately," one person wrote. Another shared: "At this stage of the contest I don't know who the pros' partners are... they need to be sat together so we can learn them."
A third said: "The fact that we probably won't see the pros with their celebs on #ItTakesTwo unless they've been voted off. They really need to change this format it's dire!"
Someone else echoed the sentiment, saying: "#ItTakesTwo we want the pros interviewed with their partners on the shows. We want to see the journey @bbcstrictly. This was the whole point of the programme. This is absolutely rubbish."
Upcoming episodes and availability
Costume designer Vicky Gill will return to It Takes Two on Thursday (October 1), alongside new hosts Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe. Ellie will also be joined by Lawrence Robb, Dani Dyer, and Cach Mercer.
Strictly Come Dancing and Strictly: It Takes Two are both available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
