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Bruno Tonioli will miss his first Strictly Come Dancing episode in 13 years!

It will be a much quieter judging panel this weekend as Bruno Tonioli is set to miss his first ever Strictly Come Dancing show.

The flamboyant judge has blamed a ‘busy work schedule’ for taking him away from Saturday and Sunday’s episodes – making it the first shows he has missed in 13 years.

A Strictly spokeswoman told the BBC: ‘As was always the plan, Bruno Tonioli is not on the judging panel this weekend.

Bruno Tonioli forced to pull out of Strictly Come Dancing for first time in 13 years
Bruno Tonioli forced to pull out of Strictly Come Dancing for first time in 13 years

‘He will be back as normal for our Halloween special and the rest of the series.’

It has been confirmed that the 61-year-old will not be replaced with a guest judge.

This means it will be up to his fellow judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell to hand out points to the celebrity contestants and their professional partners.

While it is not known exactly what work is preventing him from appearing on the show, he did tweet on Thursday that he had watched the musical Hamilton meaning he is currently in America.

Bruno is a judge alongside former Strictly head judge Len Goodman on Dancing With The Stars in the US (PA)
Bruno is a judge alongside former Strictly head judge Len Goodman on Dancing With The Stars in the US (PA)

Bruno is also a judge on Strictly’s US version Dancing with the Stars alongside former head judge Len Goodman, which airs at the same time as its British counterpart.

For the past 12-years he has followed a gruelling schedule of flying to Los Angeles every week, where he spends three days, for filming before flying back to film Strictly on the Saturday.

A source previously told MailOnline that producers have ‘known for some time’ about Bruno’s absence ‘but it’s a new situation for them to be in with a judge down.’

Strictly just won’t be the same without him…

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