Strictly Come Dancing presenter Bruce Forsyth was forced to pull out of Saturday night’s show, after being struck down by a bad case of flu. Former judge of the show Arlene Phillips says he was badly missed.

She told The Sun: “Bizarrely, I thought the show missed him.

“It’s not until you haven’t got Bruce there that you realise how he really is so woven into the programme. I think it proved he’s pivotal to the series.

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Former Strictly Come Dancing competitor Julian Clary, has admitted that he is missing Arlene Phillips on this year’s show.

Julian appeared on Scottish chatshow The Hour and when asked if he is watching the current series, Clary replied: “I am, but I’m missing Arlene Phillips a bit this year. She was like a mother to me when I did that show, unlike Craig Revel Horwood, who’s like an uncle you wouldn’t want to be left on your own with.”

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Arlene Phillips has said that the Strictly Come Dancing judges were right to get rid of Jo Wood, on Saturday night’s show.

Phillips told The Sun: “She just has no idea what to do with her legs. Brendan [Cole] looked like he was moving a plank of wood, not a body. All I could think was the clocks have gone back and so has Jo.”

The choreographer continued: “She can’t work out her right from her left. She has no understanding or awareness of it. It is often something that goes back to childhood.

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Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips has blamed professional dancer, Kristina Rihanoff for Joe Calzaghe’s departure this weekend.

Arlene thinks the pair’s performances were lacking, because their romance was so heavily publicised outside the show.

Arlene told The Sun: “The thing about Strictly romances like Matt and Flavia’s is nobody knew. That’s what made it so unbelievably powerful.

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New Strictly Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon joins Jonathan Ross for this week’s Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on BBC One.

Setting the Strictly record straight, she reveals that she didn’t know Arlene Phillips was out: “I knew nothing, I found out when everyone else did. I was as surprised as everyone else but I took all the flak for it.”

She also denies Arlene was a victim of ageism: “Personally I don’t think it’s about ageism, I think that’s a load of rubbish.”

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Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips has said that the current judges are scoring the contestants too highly.

Speaking to The Sun, she said: “The marks are too high – ridiculously high. I’ve done an overall mark for everybody and theirs are nowhere near where mine are.

“I think Craig [Revel Horwood] is the only one marking what he sees – and he gets booed.”

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The BBC are said to be in secret talks with Arlene Phillips and are planning to bring her back to Strictly Come Dancing.

The Sunday Mirror reports that show bosses want Arlene to choreograph dances in one of the final shows of the series.

A Strictly source said last night: “There’s a massive buzz about the idea of bringing her back. We’ve always seen Arlene as part of the Strictly family and, knowing how popular she is among the show’s fans, we have been looking at ways to bring her back in.”

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One of the Strictly Come Dancing contestants has claimed that the BBC has banned them from criticising Alesha Dixon’s performance on the show.

The celebrity, who wished to remain anonymous, reportedly showed a briefing document to The Mirror. The document is said to give them answers to press questions about the Alesha/Arlene debacle.

One said: “It was made clear we can’t say what we really think. There is a culture of fear. It’s as if they are trying to brainwash us. It would be funny if so many of us weren’t worried about accidentally saying something inappropriate.”

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Former Strictly Come Dancing judge, Arlene Phillips, has said that the new format show ‘drags on a bit’ and an hour and a half is too long for viewers.

Arlene was replaced by Alesha Dixon on the judging panel, but that hasn’t stopped her watching the show and giving her verdict.

“An hour and a half is too long and getting the results so quickly diminishes the excitement,” she told The Sun.

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So You Think You Can Dance boss Nigel Lythgoe has been singing the praises of his new colleague Arlene Phillips.

The former Popstars judge has forged an amazing career for himself in America, in shows like American Idol and SYTYCD and is now coming back to the UK to continue his TV reign.

Speaking of his decision to hire Arlene Phillips as a judge for the UK version of ‘So You Think You Can Dance‘, Nigel told The Sun:

“I’ve known Arlene for 100 years. We grew up together.

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After being dropped from the Strictly Come Dancing panel, it seems that Arlene Phillips has landed another lucrative contract. She has been signed as a judge on the BBC’s new version of ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’

Heading the new judging panel will be former Pop Idol judge, Nigel Lythgoe, who created the American version of the show.

Lythgoe said: “I began my career as a dancer on the BBC in the sixties. Now, I’m back as a judge of dancers – I believe I’ve made a full circle back to television’s home of dance here at the BBC.

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Former Strictly Come Dancing competitor Lisa Snowdon says that the BBC show on’t be the same without judge, Arlene Phillips.

Arlene was sacked from the show earlier this summer and replaced by Alesha Dixon, Lisa says she will miss Arlene and ln’s bickering most.

Lisa old The Sun: “I’m interested to see how it changes the dynamic of the panel.

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The Sun is reporting that the BBC have made a massive U turn and welcomed sacked judge Arlene Phillips back on the show.

Though Arlene won’t be on the judging panel, the newspaper reports that she will be one of the key choreographers with a guest spot on the spin off show ‘It Takes Two.’

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Louis Walsh has revealed that he is confident in X Factor’s ability to beat Strictly Come Dancing in this years ratings war.

In an interview with the Mirror, Louis revealed that he believes the BBC have shot themselves in the foot by sacking experienced judge Arlene Phillips.

Louis said: “We’re going to blow Strictly Come Dancing out of the water. They made a big mistake getting rid of Arlene Phillips. She’ll probably be hired in the States now.

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X Factor host Dermot O’Leary has admitted that he was shocked by the BBC’s sacking of Arlene Phillips. Arlene was replaced on Strictly Come Dancing by former winner, Alesha Dixon.

Dermot says that he found Arlene the heart of the show and compared her to Simon Cowell.

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