Reality TV sashays out on to the ballroom floor

After all those extreme makeovers, corporate go-getters and masochistic attention-seekers, what is this year's cutting-edge reality TV format?

Ballroom dancing. Networks are turning back the clock, with TVOne and TV3 bringing the old-fashioned pastime to the screen again this year.

TVNZ has bought the rights to make a local version of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, in which celebrities - partnered with an expert dancer - battle it out.

The show will be called Dancing with the Stars, but the channel is keeping quiet about the details - or which local celebrities will be foxtrotting their way to humiliation or triumph.

TV3 already screens the ABC's Strictly Dancing, featuring Australia's top ballroom dancers, on Thursday nights. Its ratings have plummeted since it began in January, from a 26 per cent audience share in its first episode to 11.1 per cent last week.

The ABC also has its own Strictly Come Dancing based on the same BBC format which TVNZ has bought.

Home and Away star Bec Cartwright pipped former politician Pauline Hanson to become the winner of the first series of the show, which drew audiences of up to 2.1 million.

The original British Strictly Come Dancing has been a ratings hit in its home territory.