UKTV Gold bags US Strictly Come Dancing

UKTV Gold has picked up the rights to the new series of the US version of Strictly Come Dancing, which will feature Spice Girl Melanie Brown and the actress Jane Seymour.

BBC1 is currently screening the fourth series of Dancing with the Stars, which featured Heather Mills McCartney, on Sunday afternoons but is thought to have passed on the opportunity of airing the fifth series.

UKTV Gold will screen three hours of content from the hit ABC series - which is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions - each week over the show's 10-week run from the end of September.

The head of UKTV Gold, James Newton, said: "The stellar line-up of contestants - especially Brits Mel B and Jane Seymour - the great production values and sheer glamour and spectacle of the show all add up to must-see family viewing."

The series will feature 12 celebrities attempting to perform dance routines judged by Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.

The acquisition is part of UKTV Gold's strategy of moving away from its previous reliance on repeats of BBC programmes.

As well as Dancing with the Stars, the channel has also recently bought the US comedy New Adventures of Old Christine and dramas Prison Break and Shark.

It also has a movie deal with Sony for titles such as Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Panic Room and The Patriot.

Source: Media Guardian