THE first show of Strictly’s new series ended in chaos when filming ran over by an hour after the presenters kept fluffing lines and had to do retakes.
Production took so long that some members of the audience walked out before the finish of Wednesday’s pre-recorded show — which did not wrap until 11pm.
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And bosses had to re-shoot scenes after the new presenting trio — Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe — sat in the wrong positions on the studio sofa.
The cast and crew gathered at Elstree Studios, Herts, for the celebrity and professional dancer pairings, due to go out on BBC1 next Saturday.
It was the first time the new hosts had presented in front of a live audience.
But the trio, who replace stalwart presenting duo Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, repeatedly had to reshoot links during the day, which began at 9am and went on for 14 hours.
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They were also forced to reshoot a sofa segment as they had to reposition themselves for a better camera angle.
Meanwhile, the “Clauditorium” — the balcony area of the studio previously used by Claudia — has now been nicknamed Jojo’s Dojo and Josh Pit as the presenters took turns to host there.
A source said: “Tensions were high during filming and it was chaotic with the new hosts for the first time. Of course, teething problems are to be expected, especially as they don’t have set positions on the stage, like Tess and Claudia did.
“While Emma is a seasoned pro, Josh and Jojo are a bit rusty and awkward, and the autocue is quite tough to get the hang of. There were quite a lot of lines fluffed throughout the day and it meant the producers had to step in and re-shoot a lot of the links.
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“The trio are still getting to grips with their roles. It’s new for all of them, especially Johannes, who hasn’t done this before.
“This was a pre-recorded show, and it will be an even bigger challenge when they start the live shows later this month.
“The pairing of pros and celebs took longer due to a musical statues-style spontaneous dance.”
Our source said the audience “started to get fidgety and were starving from being in the studio for so long”.
They went on: “All they were given were assorted packets of biscuits. Before the end, they had already started to leave in their droves.
“Many had trains to catch and work the next day.”
Love Island star Cach Mercer, 25, got an injury during the dress rehearsals and had to see the physio on site for a check up.
Our insider said bosses are aware all eyes are on them for the new-look show and want the transition to go as smoothly as possible.
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They said: “One thing is for certain though, they all genuinely like and respect each other.
“They seem to have already formed a strong bond.” Speaking ahead of filming, Johannes admitted that landing a presenting role was “never on the cards”.
He said: “But I’ve always thought, if there was a way to still stick around with the show, it would be in that position as a judge. I think that’s just all I saw for myself.
“And when this came along, I was just like, ‘They’re asking me to speak to the magic of this show. What could be so difficult about it?’ But now I’m in it, I’ve realised, ‘Oh, like this is a different ball game’.
“But honestly, I found my way of sticking around. I’m happy just to still be a part of it.”
Judge Craig Revel Horwood admitted he was unsure how the presenting line-up will work.
He said: “It’s going to be really different and really good. It’s breathing new life into the show.
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“The beauty of the three is that Johannes is so proficient in dance he’ll be able to ask proper dance questions. I love Emma Willis. She’s a good listener and a good reactor. Josh, together with her, is a little haphazard, which is great. It’s sort of chalk and cheese.”
A Strictly spokesman said: “There was nothing out of the ordinary about the length of time or number of takes during this year’s launch show record. Emma, Johannes and Josh were fantastic.”