EXCLUSIVE: Former Strictly professional dancers Brendan Cole, Vincent Simone and Pasha Kovalev give their honest opinion to the Mirror about how BBC bosses can save Strictly Come Dancing at a time of crisis

‘Strictly had a magic and it was very innocent – it’s probably lost a little bit of that,” says Brendan Cole(Image: PA)

Strictly Come Dancing has long been the diamond in the BBC ’s crown ever since it waltzed onto our screens back in 2004. But over the last few years, the beloved show has become more of a thorn in the corporation’s side after having to deal with an endless stream of scandals.

Most recently, Jamie Borthwick – who was partnered with new pro Michelle Tsiakkas last year – was suspended from his 19-year role on EastEnders for using a derogatory term about disabled people. The 30-year-old actor has since apologised, but the incident occurred while he was filming Strictly and used the slur to describe locals in Blackpool.

It came just months after radio presenter Wynne Evans was axed from the Strictly tour, and subsequently let go from the BBC entirely, after he was caught on camera making a ‘spit roast’ remark. At the time, he apologised – though has since claimed he was “horrified” at the way the statement was issued by the BBC.

Yet questions about the future of Strictly were already drawn last year following the bullying probe launched into the behaviour of professional dancers. What followed was a tightening of rules in training sessions and the BBC show having the fewest female celebrities in its 20-year history.

So after everything that’s happened and the changes it has undergone, can the show still be saved?

Jamie Borthwick’s BBC suspension comes soon after Wynne Evans’ axing(Image: PA)

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Beloved pro dancer Vincent Simone – who starred on the BBC show from 2006 until 2012 – tells the Mirror that he would like to see the show stripped back to its original format.

“Back in our day with Bruce [Forsyth], it was a very traditional Ballroom and Latin American show,” Vincent Simone explains. “Now it has developed so much and they’ve introduced so many different styles that me, myself, would be struggling to do like contemporary and all that stuff.

“It didn’t used to have any special effects – it was literally someone handing me over a CD with the music and saying good luck, off you go for next week. It’s a much bigger team now with choreographers, helpers and cameras and so they juice it up a lot more. Sometimes I always feel like it’s nice to strip it back to just two people dancing with the music. Like, really simple. I like that side of it.”

Brendan Cole, Strictly’s legendary ‘bad boy’ pro from 2004 until 2017, admits that he feels the show has lost a little bit of its magic. However, unlike Vincent, doesn’t feel that the show can go back to basics.

Brendan, Vincent and Pasha are joining Ian Waite and James Jordan on tour

“With these big shows, the longer they run, the more bells and whistles,” he says. “Because every year a new producer steps in, they want to make the show their own. When [Strictly] first started there was a magic about it but if you watch that show now, it would probably seem very, very basic and very average compared to what you watch now.

“But of its day, it had a magic and it had a beauty and it was very innocent. It’s probably lost a little bit of that, but I don’t think you could return to that format. I think shows have to improve and have to compete with other shows, otherwise they get left behind.

“Strictly had an amazing 20 something years on television. I don’t think you can compare the start to finish, but what you can do is admire the way the show has been produced over the years, and the fact that it still has a good family sort of value.”

Vincent Simone danced with Rachel Stevens on the BBC show(Image: BBC)

He adds: “So yes, it’s had a couple of it may have had a couple of rocky years, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. It’s just time.”

While Pasha Kovalev, who fell in love with his now-wife Rachel Riley while working on the show from 2011 until 2018, says that he misses the original VTs which showed the relationships between the pro and celebrity develop in the training room as opposed to the skits that are filmed now.

“You don’t really speak much on the show,” he says. “You stand next to your celebrity and listen to what the judges say. Those VTs before could show the actual friendship and relationship that develops between the two people on the dance floor in the dance room and you can get your personality across. That’s why everyone loves Vincent now.”

Vincent interjects cheekily: “We had personality back in the day!”

Vincent Simone performing with Dani Harmer in 2012(Image: PA)

The charismatic trio, who are about to join fellow former pros James Jordan and Ian Waite on their The Return of the Legends tour across the country, still watch the show despite no longer being a part of it and are grateful for the opportunities it gave them.

However, Vincent admits that there was a “hole” in his life when he left the show. “I was content when I left but then there is almost like a clock inside your system so that when it comes to September, you know that the show is about to start. So I felt a bit lost, even though I went on to do another show [I’m A Celebrity].

“But still, every year since then, when it comes to the autumn, there is that sort of hollow feeling about missing out on the show.”

Yet, he says that he wouldn’t ever return as a pro on the show. “When I was asked to go back and choreograph some of the Argentine Tangos and I had to spend time with the celebrity and pro, that’s when I realised no way could I do this again. They are long days and hours in the training room – it’s not easy, what they do.

Brendan Cole and Claire King famously did not get along when paired together in 2006(Image: PA)

“I left at the right time, because the thought of spending every day for eight hours in the studio and chatting to the guy, it’s, it’s draining. You need to be young and free of children or wives and so on. So in a way, that helped me move on from the show.”

While Pasha admits he found it relatively easy to leave the show when he did. “I only did it for eight years, not 15 like Brendan,” he says. “So at that point, I knew that I wanted to do something else. I was ready to move on. It was my decision and I never looked back.I had an amazing time and I met so many wonderful people and who I’m still friends with, and that was enough.”

Brendan admits that he never thought of a life after Strictly as it had consumed his whole life for so long, so the prospect of leaving had been scary. In 2018, Brendan admitted that he was “in shock” and “very disappointed” after learning BBC bosses had axed him from the show.

Pasha Kovalev met his now-wife Rachel Riley on Strictly in 2013(Image: PA)

The 49-year-old, who moved to Mallorca with his wife Zoe Hobbs and their two children after Covid, says: “I must have been asked 1000 times during my time on Strictly, ‘What are you going to do after? What’s next?’ And I never had an answer for that. I was always like, ‘I actually have no idea. I don’t know what will fill that five, six month gap of the year.’It consumes you because it doesn’t just start when you start the show, it starts months before that with thinking about music, ideas, etc.

“I was a little bit sad when it was over because it was such a bit part of my life, but that sadness ended the day I sort of said it out loud and I went, ‘Okay, I’m no longer a Strictly dancer.’ It was hard to say at first initially. But then, as soon I said it, it was like a weight had lifted and I was like, ‘Right, what the hell is next? Let’s go!’

“And I actually had the most incredible year doing the most incredible TV shows and theatre productions. My world changed completely, and it changed for the better. But it’s all thanks to being on Strictly for so many years. Well, not all thanks, but I was very proud of my time on the show. It was a phenomenal 15 series – even the bad ones, the horrible ones I hated, they’re still part of a journey that makes you who you are now.”