Strictly Come Dancing is the “hardest” show to film under current circumstances, the BBC’s head of entertainment has said.

But despite the challenges, Kate Phillips told the virtual Edinburgh TV Festival that the professionals are rehearsing for this year’s show and the celebrity line-up will be announced at the end of the month.

She said it would be a “slightly shorter run” but will be “special”. The professionals have isolated together for around two weeks, she said.

“We are having to adapt, the set is having to be altered, we are not quite sure at this stage how much audience we will be able to have in and we have to look at Dave Arch and his band, how hair and make-up and costume will work backstage,” she said.

“It’s probably the hardest show to do in the current circumstances, a live weekly show that relies on body contact quite a lot.”

However, she added: “There is that old line, necessity is the mother of invention, and I would say across all the entertainment shows we are seeing constant good ideas.”