Tom Fletcher and Amy Dowden forced to drop out of next week’s 'Strictly'

It was almost inevitable that COVID would continue to have an impact on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, but we weren’t expecting it to rear its head this early in the series. McFly’s Tom Fletcher and his partner Amy Dowden have been forced to withdraw from next Saturday’s show after testing positive for COVID on Sunday.

Tom and Amy test positive for Covid

A statement from the BBC read:

Tom Fletcher and Amy Dowden have tested positive for COVID-19. The pair are now self-isolating separately following the latest government guidelines. While they will both miss Saturday’s live show, Strictly Come Dancing protocols mean that all being well, they will return the following week.

Will Tom and Amy return to Strictly?

Strictly Come Dancing rules allow each couple to have one bye per series. That means if they have to miss an episode due to illness or injury, they can still return the following week. However, if they don’t test negative in time for Week 3, they’ll be out of the running. Last year, Nicola Adams and Katya Jones were forced to withdraw after testing COVID positive. At that time, the isolation period was 14 days rather than 10.

Amy wrote on Instagram:

Unfortunately @tomfletcher and I have tested positive for COVID-19. I’m not suffering any symptoms but am now isolating at home. I have no doubt that over the next 10 days my mind will be going crazy with choreography ideas ready to get back on the strictly dance floor for the live show in week 3! Thank you for all of the support and good luck to all of the couples this week. I will be cheering you all on!

As well as missing next week’sStrictly and the next 10 days of rehearsals, Tom was also forced to pull out of McFly’s gig at the SSE Arena in Glasgow on Sunday night. Wishing them both a speedy recovery!