Dame Arlene Phillips ‘resents’ the way the BBC handled her shock Strictly Come Dancing exit.
The 80-year-old dancer and choreographer spent four years on the panel alongside fellow judges Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and Len Goodman, but she was sacked in 2008.
She was on the only member of the panel who didn’t get her contract renewed, and instead got replaced by singer Alesha Dixon.
The move sparked plenty of controversy at the time, with Harriet Harman – then serving as minister for women and equality – blaming the decision on ageism during a debate in the House of Commons.
The BBC denied this, but Arlene has now admitted he is still unimpressed with how the broadcaster handled the whole situation as she found out the news when a radio show contacted her for a comment.
‘I was a grownup when I did that show, so I resent that the BBC didn’t come to me as soon as they had the thought,’ she told The Guardian.
However, Arlene made sure to stay focused and strong despite the setback, and reminded herself that she ‘had a big career’ before Strictly, with other projects in the pipeline.
‘More than knocking my confidence, I think it swirled around me, and I thought: “I need to find myself,”‘ she explained.
‘I needed all the mental preparation that I could muster to go: “Hang on a minute – you had a big career before this and you’ve got work lined up.”
‘I think I stepped up and out of it as fast as I could. When the rollercoaster goes down, find the up.’
Despite issues with how she was let go, Arlene previously revealed she is still good friends with Craig and Bruno.
‘I still catch up with Craig and Bruno when I can. I’ve known Bruno more than half of my life,’ she told OK! magazine.
‘We met in the late 70s and have been really close friends ever since. And I’d love to see Craig more but he lives quite far away, but we message each other all the time.’
And while she is a big fan of Anton Du Beke – who she hailed as a ‘great addition to the show’ – she thinks the current crop of experts spend too long giving their verdicts on the performances.
Craig and Anton make up one half of the panel alongside Shirley Ballas and Motsi Mabuse.
She admitted: ‘The one thing about Strictly’ that I don’t really enjoy any more is the segment with the judges’ comment. I think they go on far too long. I usually just fast-forward those bits.’
