Former Strictly star says she '100%' saw storm brewing over show

A former Strictly Come Dancing star has told Sky News she believes show bosses have sometimes prioritised looks, rather than teaching ability, when it comes to picking professionals – and that dancers can be “brutal” to each other behind the scenes.

Being able to dance and being able to teach dance are very different skills, said Katya Virshilas, who appeared in three seasons of the hit BBC show from 2009 to 2011.

She stressed how highly competitive and pressurised the environment can be, and said she believed that Strictly pros needed more support if they didn’t have adequate teaching experience.

Amid the controversy surrounding the show, the dancer said she “100%” could have predicted a storm brewing – and claimed producers “know everything” as you are “living under a glass house” while working on the show.

Speaking out about her experiences for the first time, Virshilas was keen to highlight how “rewarding” it is and how sad she was to see controversy “overshadowing” the series, which had “done so much for dancing”.

However, it was also “one of the hardest and toughest times of my life”, she said – and being dropped was equally difficult.

Asked if she had ever experienced or witnessed bullying behaviour, Virshilas said she “experienced bullying from other pros towards other pros”.

While not excusable, she said: “We are dancers. We’re in that environment… dancers can be brutal towards each other, but I guess we’re used to it.”

But if professionals were mistreating celebrity contestants, the vast majority of who are complete novices, that would be “a whole different, unacceptable level”, she said.

“It really takes me to the vetting process the BBC has towards the teachers. How much do they know about them and how does it happen?”

‘You need to get them dancing’

Virshilas, who now lives in Hong Kong and runs her own dance school, Ballroom Bees, joined Strictly for the seventh series when she was partnered with England cricket star Phil Tufnell.

She went on to dance alongside Welsh rugby player Gavin Henson, and TV presenter and tennis player Dan Lobb.

There is “huge pressure”, she said. “No matter what happens to the celebrity, or how they feel, you need to get them dancing on the show. This is your job.”

For professional performances, in one season she was partnered with former Strictly dancer Artem Chigvintsev, who she says she did not get on with.

“The way he treated me was not what I expected it to be. It was a really hard atmosphere to go into… you don’t feel like you’re good enough and you have the pressure of a professional dancer to look a certain way on the show and to be a certain way. So you expect a camaraderie from the other professionals, which… was not so great.”

Amid the recent controversy, comments made by TV presenter Fern Britton about her time on the show in 2012, when she was partnered with Chigvintsev, have resurfaced. Reportedly speaking at an event in 2015, Britton is said to have described her experience as “grim” at some points.

Chigvintsev would “look at my feet and just kick me or shove me” she said, according to reports from the event. And while they “did love each other for a moment or two”, he was not “charm personified”.

She added: “I did kind of enjoy it, but it was grim at the same time.”

Responding to newspapers at the time, Chigvintsev said the star’s comments did not reflect “any situation I recognise” and had come as a shock.

He said he believed he “treated Fern with respect and genuine care” and that the claims were “the opposite of everything I believe in and the person I am”.

Sky News has contacted representatives for Chigvintsev for comment on Virshilas’s claims.

How the Strictly scandal unfolded

BBC and Strictly bosses have been forced to address the growing scandal surrounding the show in recent weeks following more serious allegations made against two of its star performers.

Earlier this month, professional dancer Graziano Di Prima announced he was leaving after claims about his treatment of reality star and documentary presenter Zara McDermott – including confirmed reports he kicked her during a rehearsal.

McDermott later said she had been scared to speak up for fear of a potential public backlash.

“I deeply regret the events that led to my departure from Strictly,” Di Prima said in a statement at the time. “My intense passion and determination to win might have affected my training regime.”

His departure followed that of Giovanni Pernice, who left following a complaint made to the BBC about his behaviour by actress Amanda Abbington.

Pernice has strongly denied her claims of “unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean” behaviour and said he looks “forward to clearing my name” amid an ongoing BBC investigation.

Since then, other former contestants, including Paralympian Will Bayley, have shared negative experiences of taking part.

‘Do they care about teaching?’

Virshilas said she was “gobsmacked” to hear the allegation that Di Prima kicked McDermott. However, when it comes to alleged verbal bullying, she believes responsibility for professional dancers’ behaviour also lies with producers.

For a lot of the pros, English is their second language, she pointed out. “They are really young. They don’t have a lot of experience how to teach. Just because you’re an incredible, amazing dancer, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be a great teacher.”

She believes people involved in casting for the show may sometimes have the wrong priorities.

Are they picking “a young, talented dancer for their looks and how they do tricks, and not so much caring about [if they are] actually able to teach?” she questioned.

“[They] do need to give the young dancers support… why not bring in somebody who can help teach? This may be the way forward if they want a great dancer [who’s an inexperienced teacher].”

‘I definitely saw this coming’

Everybody wants to win, she said.

“But I think of my years being on Strictly, we did have old-school, amazing pros that were great teachers. I do feel that as the show progressed and as I’m looking at it through the years, they were just getting younger and younger and younger…

“When I started seeing these young dancers that have never really competed or taught in their life coming in. They don’t know what they’re signing up to… it’s not just glitz and glamour. You need to also be a teacher. So I definitely saw this coming.”

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More training and support for the dancers is needed, she says.

“You need to give them guidance. You need to give them tools they can utilise. So on that side, I feel for Graziano. But did he ask for them? I don’t know.

“I think if he would have approached the team and said, ‘hey, you know what? I’m having a really hard time expressing how to teach’… you’re scared, you know. I guess you’re scared to lose your job.”

Virshilas said she finds it hard to believe producers or crew members were not aware of any alleged misconduct happening behind the scenes.

“They know everything. I mean, come on. We’re living under a glass house. Your rehearsals are being filmed.

“Even when I travel to other cities with the celebrities, you still had a camera crew on you. I find it really difficult to believe producers would have missed something like that. And it’s shocking.”

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So she questions how the BBC’s recent announcement, that a member of production staff will now chaperone rehearsals, will make a difference.

“I would say 80% of the time, more, they have a camera person with you because they don’t want to miss anything, bad or good… if there’s definitely drama brewing, for sure there will be cameras… [so] there are chaperones [already], you have the crew, you have a camera there.”

Virshilas left the show in 2012, after three years.

“It’s so disappointing,” she added, of not being asked to return. “It’s sad because Strictly was your whole life. I’m so grateful now that I have an amazing career… but at that time my heart was broken.

“I remember my agent calling me to make sure I was okay. And at that time, I had my husband to support me. But I went through a really tough year.

“It’s not like the BBC goes, ‘you’re not on the show anymore but hey, here’s a year free of shrink fees for you’… if you don’t have strong family support and friends, it can be very, very tough because, yeah, one thing, you’re hot, the next thing you’re not.”

She ends by talking about her positive experiences of the show, saying she is still in touch with Anton Du Beke, Brendan Cole, Kristina Rihanoff, and Craig Revel Horwood.

“I feel for everybody on the show,” she said.

“But more than anything, I think it’s the taint that it’s brought on Strictly. Because even now, I don’t want it to be what people will talk about… because to me, Strictly Come Dancing made ballroom dancing accessible. People now know what ballroom dancing is, which is phenomenal.”

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Announcing the decision to introduce chaperones earlier this month, Kate Phillips, the BBC’s director of unscripted content, said: “Whilst we know our shows have been positive experiences for the vast majority of those who have taken part, if issues are raised with us, or we’re made aware of inappropriate behaviour, we will always take that seriously and act.”

BBC boss Tim Davie has also addressed the issue.

“Of course, alongside the fun and entertainment there will be a degree of competitiveness, hard work and a will to do well,” he told journalists at a BBC news briefing.

“That’s part of what makes this show. But there are limits and the line should never be crossed. We will never tolerate unacceptable behaviour of any kind.”

Sky News has contacted the BBC for comment on Virshilas’s claims.

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