BBC Strictly Come Dancing star has 'moved on' but will 'never forgive' show bosses

A Strictly Come Dancing star admitted she was yet to forgive BBC bosses for axing her from the show. Choreographer Arlene Phillips, who was part of the judging panel between 2004 and 2008, before she was replaced by Alesha Dixon - a move that sparked ageism allegations.

Quizzed on how she felt about the decision more than a decade on, Arlene, 88, said she had "accepted" but "not forgiven". The Mirror reports she said: "Yes, I have moved on. I suppose it is something to rejoice, and I can always remind myself, I was there at the pilot, when nobody ever thought this show was going to be a show."

Adding that she was the show's first female judge, she added: "There's a lot of accolades I could give myself.” Arlene was also asked for her thoughts on the controversy surrounding professional dancer Giovanni Pernice, who will not be on the show this year following a row over his alleged training methods.

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While Arlene said she couldn't comment on the situation specifically, she said: “Dance is tough. Dance is very tough, and learning is tough. But in terms of teaching, we have progressed from the teaching that I suffered when I was young. Teachers with canes.

“Your ballet teacher had a cane and they weren't afraid of using it, or shouting or screaming, or whatever it may be, the way you learnt to dance was, You have to devote your life to this. And teachers were the rulers of your life because they were the ones that held the key to making you a dancer.

"Over time we have found ways. I was really strict throughout the Hot Gossip days, demanding, but for a long time now, I've taken the approach that everybody has a way of learning, and you try to discover that the way they will learn fastest, and you find a way that they can learn by and work with the way that they learn.”

Arlene was now focussing on her role as "creative dramaturg" on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express, which has made a return to London. The show, which is at the specially designed Starlight Auditorium at Troubadour Wembley Park, sees Jeevan Braich take on the lead role of Rusty.

She said Lloyd Webber was “totally committed “ to the production and added: “This show is so of its time. It always was... musically it was driving so many musical genres and again there’s more new ideas and it has always been a show that Andrew has never backed off from. He has always found new ways and new ideas to bring into this musical.”

Bookings for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express are now being taken until June 2025.