The Greatest Dancer pulled by BBC after two series

Dance captains Matthew Morrison, Oti Mabuse, Cheryl and Todrick Hall

TV talent show The Greatest Dancer has been cancelled after two series, the BBC has confirmed.

The show, hosted by Alesha Dixon and Jordan Banjo, featured celebrity dance captains including pop star Cheryl.

The second series, which ended in March, attracted around 3.2 million viewers every Saturday evening.

"Whilst there are no plans for a further series of The Greatest Dancer, we are proud of the show," the BBC said.

A spokesman said the corporation "would like to thank everyone involved in bringing so many memorable moments to BBC One".

Created by Simon Cowell's Syco production company in 2019, The Greatest Dancer struggled when up against ITV shows like The Masked Singer and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

Latin ballroom duo Michael and Jowita were the most recent winners of the show, earning £50,000 and the opportunity to perform on Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly 'changes'

BBC entertainment controller Kate Phillips has said she is "looking very carefully" at how to bring Strictly back this autumn - but that the format will change because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"That is absolutely one of our big priorities, making sure we can bring you a great Strictly," she said on Tuesday. "But I think inevitably things are going to change."

It's not necessarily true that traditional "shiny floor" light entertainment shows need a studio audience, she added.

"When you look at something like Drag Race, which is a big shiny floor talent competition with all sorts of catwalks, singing, dancing, impressions - it never has an audience.

"The audience is the four judges and I don't think it suffers from that at all. I think it is a brilliant show."