A Question Of Sport audience told taping is CANCELLED but NOT due to Covid fears

Tapings for next week's edition of A Question Of Sport has been cancelled - but the BBC has insisted it is not Covid-related.

The episode was set to feature Ugo Monye - team captain and current Strictly Come Dancing participant.

Rugby star Ugo is set to dance with Oti Mabuse - but those booked to see A Question Of Sport filmed live at the BBC's Salford studios next week have been told not to come.

Cancelled: Tapings for next week's edition of A Question Of Sport has been cancelled - but the BBC has insisted it is not Covid-related. The episode was set to feature Ugo Monye - team captain and current Strictly Come Dancing participant [pictured]

A spokeswoman for the show said: 'As is sometimes usual for a production, we have had to reschedule filming. We will still be welcoming a full studio audience.'

Yet reports of backstage drama at Strictly - with three pro dancers said to be refusing Covid vaccines - has caused raised eyebrows among the would-be audience members, as writes The Sun.

A Question Of Sport has been a mainstay on the BBC since 1970, and is now in its 51st season.

On hold: Rugby star Ugo is set to dance with Oti Mabuse - but those booked to see A Question Of Sport filmed live at the BBC's Salford studios next week have been told not to come

New look: A Question Of Sport has been a mainstay on the BBC since 1970, and is now in its 51st season. It was recently revamped, with Ugo as one team captain and Olympic hockey player Sam Quek as the other

It was recently revamped, with Ugo as one team captain and Olympic hockey player Sam Quek as the other.

Sue Barker stepped down as host, with Paddy McGuinness now in the chair.

The Sun claims the BBC have stated 'logistical problems' for the taping being postponed.

Worries: Reports of backstage drama at Strictly - with three pro dancers said to be refusing Covid vaccines - has caused raised eyebrows among the would-be audience members

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The great Strictly Who Jab It: As tensions grow behind the scenes over unvaccinated dancers and 'shocked' celebs, ALISON BOSHOFF explains all you need to know...

September is here, so it must be Strictly crisis season.

And, true to form, not only has the show had to try to keep the lid on news that one professional dancer tested positive for Covid two weeks ago, they have had three dancers unmasked as unvaccinated, too.

The story has snowballed over the week amid a chorus of disapproval that includes not only former professional dancers but even the Prime Minister.

For who on earth would accept a job dancing cheek to cheek with a stranger for 13 weeks and not be vaccinated?

There are reports of consternation among the celebrity contingent, who are said to be ‘shocked’ that the show isn’t taking more care of them.

Concerns: It came just three days after it emerged that one professional dancer has tested positive for Covid-19 (Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are pictured)

By Thursday, the BBC was having to work hard to dampen speculation that at least one celebrity wanted to swap as a result of the hoo-ha.

It insisted that there would be no ‘re-couplings’ and that all of the celebrities were going to stick with the professionals that they were paired with during the lengthy launch show, broadcast last week.

One rather rattled Beeb source described reports that the unvaccinated pros would sooner quit than submit to a jab as ‘bull****.’

The corporation released a statement saying: ‘A lot has been written about vaccinations and Strictly in recent days. The BBC has never commented on nor confirmed the vaccination status of anyone on the show. It’s not our place to.

‘It is not the case that concerns have been raised with the BBC or the Strictly production team from dancers or celebrities about vaccination, or that they have threatened to quit.’

Contestants and viewers alike are now taking part in a Strictly guessing game. So who are the great unjabbed?

And should the Beeb be protecting them — or sidelining them in the name of safety?

WHO CAN YOU RULE OUT?

Amy Dowden, Giovanni Pernice and reigning champion Oti Mabuse have all had two Covid jabs.

Dowden, 31, who is teamed with pop star Tom Fletcher, 36, was jabbed ahead of most of her age group because she suffers from Crohn’s disease.

Amy Dowden, Giovanni Pernice and reigning champion Oti Mabuse have all had two Covid jabs

She spoke about her vaccinations earlier this year. She has danced on the BBC show since 2017.

Giovanni Pernice, 31, partnering deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, 26, told Hello! Magazine over the summer that he was double-jabbed and had been over to Italy to visit family.

He shares a flat in London with new pro Kai Widdrington, 26, who is teamed with TV presenter A.J. Odudu, 33.

Oti Mabuse, 31, teamed with rugby player Ugo Monye, 38, is also double-jabbed.

IT WASN’T ME

Dancer Luba Mushtuk, 31, is without a celebrity partner this year.

As controversy raged over the unvaccinated dancers, she wrote on Twitter: ‘No doubts here. Just saying.’

This has led some to think that she has had the jab, and is saying none too subtly that she wishes she had a celebrity to partner.

Dancer Luba Mushtuk, 31 is without a celebrity partner but wrote on Twitter: ‘No doubts here. Just saying.’

Her agent did not return requests for comment. There is a belief that Johannes Radebe, 34, paired with baker John Whaite, 32, is also vaccinated.

He took part in numerous shows over the summer, including filming Celebrity Masterchef.

On Twitter in December a fan wrote: ‘Give Johannes the first COVID-19 vaccine. WE MUST PROTECT HIM AT ALL COSTS!.’

Johannes, clearly tickled, retweeted it twice with crying laughing emojis. Neither Luba’s nor Johannes’s agents responded to requests to comment.

CAN’T (OR WON’T) SAY

Many of the professional dancers were this week citing privacy as a reason for not giving their vaccination status. Popular Aljaz Skorjanec, 31, remained silent.

His agent said: ‘An individual’s Covid vaccination status is private medical information. This is an intrusion of privacy and we aren’t willing to comment or engage further on this.’

Much the same words were used by those