'Strictly Come Dancing' executive producer Moira Ross quits

Moira Ross, the executive producer of Strictly Come Dancing, has quit the show to join production company Wall to Wall, where she will be exec producer of the BBC's version of The Voice.

Ross, currently the BBC's editor of format entertainment, will take up the newly-created role of head of entertainment at the Shed Media-owned company in January 2012.

She will be responsible for all of Wall to Wall's entertainment output, including acting as executive producer for The Voice UK, which will premiere on BBC One in early next year.

Ross is credited with having successfully relaunched Strictly Come Dancing in a format that has attracted the highest ratings in the show's long history.

She also oversees various BBC in-house entertainment productions including Eurovision Song Contest, So You Think You Can Dance and Strictly spinoff It Takes Two on BBC Two.

In addition, she spent three years seconded in Los Angeles working as a supervising producer on series two and three of Dancing with the Stars, the international name for Strictly Come Dancing, and as co-exec producer on ABC's Dance War.

Ross, who will remain executive producer of Strictly until the end of the current series, said: "There is no other show I would leave the BBC and Strictly Come Dancing for, but the opportunity to launch The Voice UK on BBC One and to join the wonderful team at Wall to Wall was just too great to pass up. There's no denying I'll miss the ballroom, but I'm looking forward to discovering the UK's next singing sensation."

Leanne Klein, the creative director at Wall to Wall, said: "We're absolutely delighted to have someone of Moira's calibre joining us at this exciting time.

"Not only are we looking forward to making The Voice UK a huge returning hit for BBC One, we are also looking to establish ourselves as a major entertainment producer for all broadcasters and having Moira on board is a significant part of that strategy."

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Mark Linsey, the controller of entertainment commissioning at the BBC, added: "I'd like to thank Moira for the amazing job she does on Strictly Come Dancing and am delighted she'll be staying with us until the end of this series.

"It's great news for us that she'll be working on our next big Saturday night entertainment show for BBC One, The Voice UK, and I know she'll be a fabulous asset to that show and to Wall to Wall."