Strictly’s Arlene Phillips reveals ‘real reason’ behind show’s scandals after fears it will be axed like Dancing On Ice
STRICTLY star Arlene Phillips has opened up on whether she thinks the BBC dance will suffer the same fate as Dancing On Ice.
The choreographer, now 80, was on the show from 2004 to 2008 before being replaced by Alesha Dixon, then 30, sparking allegations of ageism.
Dame Arlene, who rose to fame in the 1970s as leader of raunchy dance troupe Hot Gossip, said she found out she was no longer a judge while listening to the radio.
Over the years, the show has been hit by a series of controversies – from Giovanni Pernice, who quit the show after Amanda Abbington accused him of bullying and a string of complaints, some of which were upheld.
While shamed pro Graziano Di Prima was sacked by Strictly bosses last year when it was claimed he “hit, spat at and kicked” former show partner Zara McDermott.
There was also the fallout over comedian Seann Walsh and pro Katya Jones being seen kissing and most recently the fallout over Wynne Evans making sexual comments.
Some fans have insisted it’s time to axe the show after a number of scandals.
But Arlene has admitted that cancelling the show would be a huge loss for fans who still find pleasure in watching it.
Arlene exclusively told The Sun: “I think Strictly is going to keep going on, generation after generation fall in love with Strictly, fall in love with dance, who could ask for more.”
Opening up about why she thinks the show has been hit by scandals, Arlene admitted it’s not down to the show alone.
She said: “Life is a controversy, we’re not all on the same path, we veer off at times, it’s not different to life. for me dance is life, all these ups and downs and craziness.”
It comes after Strictly has lost its top talent executive after the Wynne Evans row rocked the show.
Long-serving celebrity booker Stefania Aleksander has left her full-time role after seven years.
Stefania has been replaced by long-standing staffer Jasmine Fox and will now be working on ITV’s Soccer Aid.
But BBC sources insisted her departure as celebrity talent executive was not connected to any of these issues.
One told The Sun on Sunday: “Stefania worked on the series for a long time and she came under increasing pressure over the last couple of years.
“There was the fallout over Seann Walsh and Katya Jones being seen kissing, then the bust-up between Giovanni and Amanda, then the Graziano Di Prima and Zara McDermott kicking incident and finally the fallout over Wynne Evans making sexual comments.
“It’s not that these situations were Stefania’s fault, but they happened during her tenure recruiting the celebrities.”
The source added: “Stefania’s name was mentioned numerous times during the BBC investigation into Amanda’s claims about Giovanni bullying her.
“It was apparent to BBC investigators that she was the first person Amanda would complain to over Giovanni’s behaviour. She was the main point of liaison between them.
“The show recruiting Wynne Evans came to be viewed as a poor signing because of the problems with him. There’s been a lot of discussion behind the scenes at the BBC over how that came about.”
Wynne was axed from the Strictly tour earlier this year when a video emerged of him making a vulgar comment.
All your Strictly Come Dancing winners
Strictly first kicked off back in 2004, and over the years has crowned 21 winners.
Here is a full list of who has been lucky enough to win the famous Glitterball Trophy:
- 2004 – Natasha Kaplinsky
- 2004 – Jill Halfpenny
- 2005 – Darren Gough
- 2006 – Mark Ramprakash
- 2007 – Alesha Dixon
- 2008 – Tom Chambers
- 2009 – Chris Hollins
- 2010 – Kara Tointon
- 2011 – Harry Judd
- 2012 – Louis Smith
- 2013 – Abbey Clancy
- 2014 – Caroline Flack
- 2015 – Jay McGuiness
- 2016 – Ore Oduba
- 2017 – Joe McFadden
- 2018 – Stacey Dooley
- 2019 – Kelvin Fletcher
- 2020 – Bill Bailey
- 2021 – Rose Ayling-Ellis
- 2022 – Hamza Yassin
- 2023 – Ellie Leach
- 2024 – Chris McCausland