Janette Manrara quits Strictly Come Dancing to host It Takes Two

Janette Manrara has quit Strictly Come Dancing after eight years to become the host of its spin-off show It Takes Two.

Zoe Ball announced she was leaving the BBC Two show, which airs on weeknights during the main show's run, after 10 years as host back in May, and on Thursday, Strictly professional Janette revealed she was going to be her replacement.

Sharing her news on The One Show, the 37-year-old said, "One of my favourite parts of doing Strictly was sitting down on that couch and just chatting away. I remember meeting Zoe, gosh, that was eight years ago now when I did the first It Takes Two sit-down, and thinking, 'This is the coolest job ever, you get to sit down, talk about dancing, make people feel good and celebrate the successes on the show.' I did say, 'One day I'd love to do that' and here we are."

However, she admitted that she was emotional about not taking to the Strictly dancefloor anymore.

"I will not be dancing. I don't want to well up because I have been welling up a lot today, but that has been the hardest part of accepting this amazing honour to join It Takes Two," she shared. "It's the realisation that I will not be on that legendary Strictly dancefloor anymore. But I feel that this is most beautiful and natural progression.

"I am still a part of the Strictly family, I am still going to be seeing my fellow pros all the time and I will keep dancing, as they say. I will find a way to keep dancing."

Janette, who is married to fellow Strictly professional Aljaž Škorjanec, joined the show in 2013 and her partners during her show have included Julien MacDonald, Jake Wood, Peter Andre, Melvin Odoom, Aston Merrygold, Dr Ranj Singh and Will Bayley.

Last year, she teamed up with singer HRVY and came in second place - her highest ranking position of the competition.

Janette will co-host It Takes Two with Rylan Clark-Neal and new professional dancers will be announced later this year.