NO matter what happens in this weekend’s semi-final, Blackburn’s AJ Odudu will keep dancing next year as she joins the line-up for the Strictly Come Dancing live UK tour.

Along with professional partner Kai Widdrington, she will take part in the shows which kick off in January.

The former St Bede’s High School and St Mary’s College student said: “Going on the Strictly tour is a fantastic opportunity. I’ll get to dance again and relive some of my favourite routines in front of huge live arena audiences. Just get me on the dance floor!”

Other pairs from this year’s Strictly line-up announced for the tour include John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice, Sara Davies and Aljaz Skorjanec, Tilly Ramsay and Nikita Kuzmin, and CBBC star Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.

The Wanted singer Max George, who competed on Strictly in 2020, will also join the 2022 tour, paired with Katya Jones ­— who is starring in this year’s pantomime at King George’s Hall in Blackburn.

Strictly professional Janette Manrara will host the 2022 tour, after she hung up her dancing shoes this year to replace Zoe Ball as the host of It Takes Two.

Last weekend saw 33-year-old TV presenter AJ land a place in the semi-final, despite finding herself in the dance-off.

AJ and Kai received the majority vote from the judging panel for their salsa, keeping them in the competition, with BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker and Nadiya Bychkova getting the boot.

This weekend AJ and Kai face a rumba, often the most challenging dance for contestants, to Show Me Heaven by Maria McKee.

They will also take on a quickstep to Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman.

The semi-finals will air on Saturday at 7.05pm, with the results show on Sunday at 7.20pm on BBC One and on BBC iPlayer.

– The Strictly Come Dancing Live tour kicks off on January 20 in Birmingham, with tickets available from strictlycomedancinglive.com/