Strictly Come Dancing star Brian Fortuna quit the show last night after BBC chiefs demoted him and four other professional dancers and replaced them with younger stars.

Mr Fortuna, Ian Waite, Matthew Cutler, Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova – who are mostly in their 30s – were offered roles in a ‘professional dance troupe’, meaning they will no longer compete in the show or be paired with celebrities.

Mr Fortuna himself is only 27 but the announcement will reignite claims of ageism at the BBC as the three new dancers brought in to replace them are nearly a decade younger than their predecessors.

The changes to the Strictly format, which will also reduce the number of celebrity contestants from 16 to 14, are seen as a desperate attempt to sex-up the show, which has fallen well behind rival The X Factor in the ratings.

Among the new recruits are 28-year-old Artem Chigvintse, a Latin champion and US So You Think You Can Dance graduate, Jared Murillo, a 21-year-old High School Musical dancer and Swing Youth winner and 30-year-old Burn The Floor star Robin Windsor.

Some of the other professional dancers are now said to be considering their positions on the show after what they regard as a blatant snub after years of service.

Mr Waite, 39, Mr Cutler, 34, Mr Bennett, 33, and Miss Kopylova, 31, have been offered roles in a dance troupe performing ‘show-stopping dance spectacles’ each week on the show.

Mr Cutler won the show in 2007 with singer Alesha Dixon, Miss Kopylova triumphed in 2005 with cricketer Darren Gough and Mr Bennett was the champion in 2004 when he was partnered with actress Jill Halfpenny.

But last year’s shake-up of the female professional dancers saw the BBC accused of ageism when former winner Karen Hardy, then 39, was replaced.
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Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli will be the only panellists to appear on screen when the one-off episode airs on March 19.

A show spokesperson explained Dixon’s absence by pointing out that the special was filmed during a London date of the Strictly Come Dancing tour, which the popstar was not involved in.

However, an insider told The Mirror that her non-appearance “could be a sign of things to come”.

Reports suggested yesterday that Dixon may not return for the eighth series in the autumn. She has yet to confirm her future involvement with the programme.

The singer replaced long-standing judge Arlene Phillips on the panel last year.

Source: digitalspy.co.uk

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