Strictly Come Dancing’s former judge Shirley Ballas has hinted at a return to the BBC show (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeStrictly Come Dancing legend Arlene Phillips has dropped a massive hint about making an epic comeback to the hit BBC dance show, 15 years after her controversial exit. The choreography queen, who became a household name as part of the original judging quartet with Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli, and Craig Revel-Horwood, spilled the beans while chatting at the Pride of Britain Awards. Speaking to The Sun, the 81-year-old revealed: “I’ve been filming something today, which will be coming out soon and is hilarious.” She added a cheeky tease about her potential return, saying: “It’s something to do with dancing.”
Arlene Phillips has hinted at a return to Strictly
(Image: Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/Getty I)
When pressed about strutting back to the Strictly Come Dancing panel, she playfully hinted: “Maybe a little chat…” Arlene, who soared to fame in the ’70s with Hot Gossip, served on the Strictly panel from 2004 until 2008. Her replacement by Alesha Dixon led to a media storm over ageism claims. Dame Arlene famously learned of her sacking via the radio, and even Harriet Harman, the then-equality minister, weighed in, slamming the move as “age discrimination” in Parliament, reports Birmingham Live. Alesha, who bagged the glitterball trophy in 2007 before joining the panel, eventually quit to become a judge on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent. The current judging line-up boasts the likes of Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke. Dame Arlene also sat on the judging panel for the BBC’s So You Think You Can Dance, which aired briefly from 2010 to 2011 for two series, and she’s choreographed numerous West End shows. Sign up to OK!’s TV newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free
Arlene on the original judging line-up of Strictly Come Dancing in 2004
(Image: BBC)
Strictly is currently airing on BBC One, with EastEnders’ Jamie Borthwick, Miranda’s Sarah Hadland, comedian Chris McCausland and TOWIE’s Pete Wicks taking part. Last weekend saw Jamie top the leaderboard after scoring three 10s for his Paso doble. The soap actor tied with Gladiators star Montell Douglas, who also received three 10s from the judges for her Couple’s choice. Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri came in fourth place with her Tango, but admitted recently on It Takes Two that she questioned her place in the competition after the topping the leaderboard the week before. “I’ll be honest, I think I had quite a rough week last week emotionally,” she said. “Emotionally, I think there was a lot of noise that happened after we did Charleston, and there was kind of a lot of people saying a lot of different things, and I started to feel like, ‘Do I even deserve to be here?’ “”There was a point where I did start to feel like that, and there was a point where actually in rehearsals had a really good chat and a good heart to heart. Aljaž was really there for me, picked me up said, ‘Look, you do deserve to be here, you’ve got this. We’re in this together.'”Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnArlene PhillipsBruno TonioliCraig Revel HorwoodLen GoodmanShirley BallasAlesha DixonAnton Du BekeStrictly Come Dancing
