BBC Strictly Come Dancing star splits from partner after a year together

Strictly Come Dancing star Tom Dean has quietly parted ways with his girlfriend. The 24 year old Olympic swimmer ended things with Charlotte Phillips shortly after his departure from the BBC dance contest as the notorious 'Strictly curse' rears its head once more.

The couple had been together for a year before deciding that their relationship had "naturally run its course", according to sources. Tom was the first celeb to leave the BBC show alongside his dance partner Nadiya Bychkova, aged 35.

Their exit came in the very first week, following a dance-off against Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones, who themselves exited the competition the following week. An insider disclosed to MailOnline that Tom's breakup was not influenced by his stint on Strictly Come Dancing.

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They revealed: "Like in so many breakups, Tom and Lottie's year-long relationship had naturally run its course and it has nothing to do with Strictly. It just happened to be in the first two weeks that they decided to part ways.

"They are still good friends and it's all amicable between them."

Charlotte Phillips is a communications executive for NewsUK. She goes by 'Lottie' on social media, and her Instagram account is set to private, but Dean had posted pictures of the couple on his account. Charlotte studied at Cardiff University between 2018 and 2022, completing a masters in marketing.

It comes after Tom's partner Nadiya and her Strictly boyfriend Kai Widdrington split before the current series. The Sun previously revealed backstage tension engulfing the show as Kai, 29, and Nadiya "refused to stand next to each other."

Around 20 relationships are said to have been impacted so far over the show's 20 years. This includes the partnerships of Louise and Jamie Redknapp as well as Kevin Clifton and Karen Hauer.

Controversially, Judge Craig Revel Horwood once said of the curse: “I think of it as a blessing, to be honest. One person is married, the other one had a girlfriend but my point in this entire thing is: if you come on Strictly, sometimes you are in a relationship that is not working anyway.

“There has to be something wrong in your relationship before it all goes awry.”