Lowe would be departing the show. Five days later, on 9 May, Shirley Ballas announced that she would be replacing Len Goodman as head judge. On 21 June 2017, Oksana Platero and the previous series' professional champion, Joanne Clifton, announced that they would also be leaving. The new professionals replacing them were Australian Open champion Dianne Buswell, Welsh dancer Amy Dowden, and Ukrainian two-time world champion Nadiya Bychkova. On 7 August, Nick Grimshaw announced that Mollie King was the first celebrity known to be taking part in the series. This was the first series to be broadcast since Sir Bruce Forsyth's death in August that year. In a change to the format of the previous five years, there was no elimination in the final, meaning there were three runner-up couples this series. Series 16 (2018) On 30 January 2018, it was announced that Brendan Cole would no longer appear on the show. On 30 May 2018, the full lineup of professional dancers was announced. Chloe Hewitt left the series and three new professional dancers — Graziano Di Prima, Johannes Radebe and Luba Mushtuk — were announced to be joining the show. This meant that there were 18 professional dancers, the most in the show's history. Series 17 (2019) On 13 February 2019, professional dancer Pasha Kovalev announced that he was leaving the show after competing on it for eight years. On 10 April 2019, it was announced that judge Darcey Bussell had left the show after seven years. On 22 July 2019, Motsi Mabuse was announced as the replacement for Bussell. On 30 July 2019, it was announced that Nancy Xu would be joining the cast of professional dancers. On 5 September 2019, it was announced that Jamie Laing had withdrawn from the show due to a foot injury. He was later replaced by Kelvin Fletcher. In late October, Will Bayley left the competition due to a sustained leg injury. Series 18 (2020) On 6 March 2020, Kevin Clifton announced that he was leaving the show after seven years. On 26 March 2020, AJ Pritchard also announced that he was leaving the show after four years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was confirmed that the series would be slightly shorter than planned. Before the series began, the professional dancers and some of the crew isolated and tested for COVID-19 to then become a household. Strictly took over a hotel