Dame Arlene Phillips has said she misses judging on Strictly Come Dancing as she praised this year’s contestants, saying “every one of those people can come up”.
The choreographer, 79, said on the red carpet for the National Television Awards at London’s OVO Arena Wembley that she is particularly a fan of actor Will Mellor, who is paired with Nancy Xu on the dance competition.
Asked whether she missed the show, she said: “Oh, I do. I love that show. At the moment there is so many people I love but I like Will Mellor, I think he’s pushing it. And I feel this year no one knows who’s going to win. Every one of those people can come up, there is so many exciting people in the show.”
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Dame Arlene became the oldest contestant to compete in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! last year, which is nominated for the Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award at the NTAs tonight. She said: “I’m really excited about being here tonight, I love it. Being part of a nominated show, it makes it special to be at the NTAs.”
The star sat on the panel of the hit BBC One show from 2004-2009 before getting replaced by Alesha Dixon. Talking earlier this year to The Mirror, Arlene explained she still has never been told why she was taken off the show and discussed how she reacted when she received the call.
“I gave myself 48 hours to kick, scream, cry and sob, and eat scones with cream and jam, then I made myself wake up and get on with it," she told the newspaper. “I wanted to know in detail and I wanted to know the real reason at the point when they decided for me to go, yet they kept me hanging on for so long with the possibility that there would be five judges.”
The former dancer, choreographer, and TV star appeared as a judge on the BBC One dance show from 2004 to 2009. She was one of the original judges alongside Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli when the show launched. In 2005 and 2006, Arlene was a judge for the spin-off series Strictly Dance Fever, also by the BBC, to find dancers wishing to join the chorus of a West End musical.
However, as the 2008 series of Strictly came to an end, which was won by Tom Chambers, the BBC announced that several changes would be made to refresh the show in 2009. It was until the summer that Arele's exit was confirmed and she was replaced by former Strictly winner and current Britain's Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon, who was 35 years her junior.
And Arlene's exit from Strictly caused quite the reaction and led to an unprecedented intervention from the then Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman. During a session in the House of Commons, Harman responded to questions stating that she believed the decision to drop Arlene Phillips was motivated by age discrimination.
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