There’s been talk about the BBC planning its biggest shake-up yet this year for the professional line-up on Strictly Come Dancing.

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Amy Dowden spoke about the speculation on the professional line-up(Image: BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing has hit the headlines this week following rumours that the BBC are set to be getting rid of many fan-favourite professional dancers.

Reports suggest Nadiya Bychkova, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Michelle Tsiakkas, Katya Jones and Karen Hauer are all at risk of being axed.

During an appearance on BBC Breakfast, host Charlie Stayt was quick to ask professional dancers Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu about the ongoing speculation.

He said: “You will both be aware, I’m sure, that it’s that time of year, isn’t it, where there’s lots of speculation about which dancers are going to be on Strictly Come Dancing, as in on TV.

“There’s a lot of it knocking around at the moment. Are you able to say anything about that?”

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Strictly Come Dancing star Nadiya Bychkova’s name has been mentioned for being on the chopping block(Image: PA)

Amy replied: “There is, you know, we get asked this all the time. Nothing has come from the BBC officially yet. So, we’re really hoping to be back dancing with our gorgeous Strictly family later this year.

“But, wait until any official announcements are made. There’s so much speculation, but nothing has come from the BBC.”

Charlie highlighted that although the fans get caught up in the glitz and glamour of the show, the pros are there to do a job.

He asked: “This is a job for you, so it’s speculation on whether or not you’ve got a job. That’s quite tricky, isn’t it, in a way? It’s work.”

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Amy Dowden spoke about the speculation on the professional line-up(Image: BBC)

Amy shared that the pros put their ‘heart and soul’ into the show, adding: “We love it!”

Carlos told the two BBC stars that the show is their lives, adding: “It’s not only the work, it’s for us as a dancer, I think it’s the best platform you can ever be on and to give youtube opportunity to really shine through your talents.

“For dancers and as artists, we live our life and we give everything that we have. We put our heart and soul into it, so beyond that, it’s more than just a job and just work, it’s our life.”

Although fans will have to wait to see which professionals will be returning to the show, two faces that they won’t be seeing are Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

The pair announced they would be stepping down from their positions on the BBC show at the end of last year’s series.

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Tess and Claudia decided to step down from their roles on the BBC show(Image: BBC)

In a joint statement, they said: “We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time.

“We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show.

“They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day. We will cry when we say the last “keep dancing” but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.”

It’s not yet been announced who will be taking over from the duo for Strictly Come Dancing 2026.