Just the Two of Us (TV series)
Just the Two of Us is a British television reality singing contest hosted by Vernon Kay and Tess Daly. The first series of the BBC show saw eight celebrities team up with professional singers and sing each night in duets, with one pair being eliminated every night. After each performance they were judged by a panel of industry experts. The basic format of the show was first used in another BBC programme, Strictly Come Dancing. It was cancelled in April 2007 after two series.
Format
During the week-long run each day all the celebrities perform a duet with a professional singer. The judges then give comments on each performance. Once the contestants have returned to the "Green Room", the judges each then each give the couple a score from 1 to 10. The scores create a leaderboard which forms 50% of the final result, the other half comes from the public vote via telephone and text entries.Once the scores and votes are combined to form the final leaderboard for that day's show, the two couples at the bottom compete in a final "Sing Off", where they perform their duet again. Once both couples have performed their song for the judging panel, the four judges decide on who deserves to stay and cast their votes. The couple with the most votes from the judges leaves the show that day.
So far there have been two series, the first won by Russell Watson and Sian Reeves and the second was won by Hannah Waterman and Marti Pellow.
Only four professionals have performed in both series - Natasha Hamilton, Alexander O'Neal, Jocelyn Brown and Beverly Knight.
The panel of judges were seen as four industry professionals. The judges for series one were singer Lulu, singer and musician Stewart Copeland, celebrity vocal coach CeCe Sammy and radio DJ Trevor Nelson. In 2007 for series two, Lulu was replaced by Jackson Five star Tito Jackson. Sammy, Nelson and Copeland all returned for series two. Tara McDonald the well known UK dance vocalist was on backing vocal duty for both series.
Series 1
The first series began on 24 February 2006 and ended on 5 March 2006.| Celebrity | Professional | Status |
| Siân Reeves | Russell Watson | Winners on 5 March |
| Mark Moraghan | Natasha Hamilton | Runners-up on 5 March |
| Chris Fountain | Jo O'Meara | Eliminated on 4 March |
| Penny Smith | Curtis Stigers | Eliminated on 3 March |
| Nicky Campbell | Beverley Knight | Eliminated on 2 March |
| Matt Allwright | Jocelyn Brown | Eliminated on 26 February |
| Fiona Bruce | Alexander O'Neal | Eliminated on 25 February |
| Gaby Roslin | Martin Fry | Eliminated on 24 February |
;Notes
- Watson replaced Rick Astley after Astley was unable to continue as his partner Lene Bausinger had been nominated for an Oscar and the awards ceremony clashed with filming for the show.
The Judges
- Trevor Nelson
- Lulu
- Cece Sammy
- Stewart Copeland
Series 2
The second and final series began on 2 January 2007 and ended on 7 January 2007.| Celebrity | Professional | Status |
| Hannah Waterman | Marti Pellow | Winners on 7 January |
| Brendan Cole | Beverley Knight | Second Place on 7 January |
| Mark Butcher | Sarah Brightman | Third Place on 7 January |
| John Bardon | Jocelyn Brown | Eliminated on 6 January |
| Julia Bradbury | Tony Christie | Eliminated on 5 January |
| Luke Bailey | Natasha Hamilton | Eliminated on 4 January |
| Janet Ellis | Alexander O'Neal | Eliminated on 3 January |
| Gregg Wallace | Carol Decker | Eliminated on 2 January |
Singer Russell Watson was originally supposed to be participating on the series with Hollyoaks actress, Loui Batley. However, after having had surgery to remove a tumour from his brain, he decided to pull out of the competition. Unlike the previous year, however, he was not replaced, so Batley was also dropped from the show.
Jo O'Meara did not participate in the second series as she was taking part in Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother at the time.
Contestants received vocal coaching by Joshua Alamu.
The Judges
The judges were:- Trevor Nelson
- Stewart Copeland
- Cece Sammy
- Tito Jackson
Judges' scoring summary
International versions
These versions of the format are distributed by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC.| Country | Name | Channel | Hosts | Judges | Air date |
| It Takes Two | Seven Network | Grant Denyer Terasa Livingstone Kate Ritchie Erika Heynatz | Marina Prior James Valentine Ross Wilson Amanda Pelman | 28 May 2006 – 22 April 2008 | |
| Just the Two of Us | vtm | Staff Coppens Evi Hanssen | Dirk Blanchart Hilde Norga Sofie Zaki | 21 October 2006 - ? | |
| Just the Two of Us | Hunan Television | mid-2000s | |||
| Zvijezde pjevaju | HRT | Barbara Kolar Duško Čurlić | Ksenija Erker Rajko Dujmić Martina Tomčić Husein Hasanefendić Vanna Zdenka Kovačiček Zrinko Tutić Danijela Martinović Miroslav Škoro Valentina Fijačko Mirela Priselac Remi < | 7 April 2007 – present | |
| Duety… když hvězdy zpívají | Czech Television | Tereza Kostková Aleš Háma | Michael Prostějovský Ota Balage Linda Finková Lubomír Brabec | ||
| Laulud tähtedega | TV3 | Marko Matvere Karin Rask Eda-Ines Etti Madis Milling | Jaanus Nõgisto Anu Tali Jüri Makarov Mihkel Raud Maarja-Liis Ilus Peeter Rebane | 5 October 2008 – 16 May 2010 | |
| It Takes 2 | RTL | Daniel Hartwich Julia Krüger | Conchita Wurst Álvaro Soler Angelo Kelly | 15 January - 12 February 2017 | |
| Just the 2 of Us | Mega Channel | Giorgos Kapoutzidis Zeta Makrypoulia Doukissa Nomikou Dimitris Ouggarezos | Stefanos Korkolis Kostas Tournas Athinais Nega Lydia Papaioannou Giorgos Theofanous Roula Koromila Dimitris Arvanitis Krateros Katsoulis | 17 October 2010 – 18 June 2014 | |
| Just the 2 of Us | Open TV | Nikos Koklonis Vicky Kavoura | Despina Vandi Stamatis Fasoulis Vicky Stavropoulou Maria Bakodimou | 14 March 2020 – present | |
| Just the Two of Us | Tien | Linda de Mol Gordon Heuckeroth | Cornald Maas Margriet Eshuijs Rob Stenders Esther Hart | 11 March – 30 April 2007 | |
| It Takes 2 | RTL Nederland | ??? | ??? | 2016–present | |
| Tylko nas dwoje | Polsat | Katarzyna Cichopek Mariusz Kałamaga | Irena Santor Tomasz Karolak Dorota Rabczewska | 13 March 2010 – 15 May 2010 | |
| Şarkı Söylemek Lazım | Show TV | Behzat Uygur Zeynep Tokuş | Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz Erol Büyükburç Fuat Güner İnci Çayırlı Oray Eğin Eyşan Özhim Zeynep Talu Özdemir Erdoğan Ayşe Özyılmazel | 2007-2008 | |
| Cặp đôi hoàn hảo | VTV3 | Thanh Ngọc Phan Anh Trấn Thành Vy Oanh Cát Phượng | Lê Hoàng Siu Black Lê Minh Sơn Lưu Thiên Hương Thanh Bạch Quang Linh Bảo Lan | 9 October 2011 – 18 January 2015 |