James Jordan has said the recent culling of several professional dancers from Strictly Come Dancing was “needed” to get rid of “dead wood”.
The BBC series has undergone a significant shake-up ahead of the 2026 season, with new hosts and the departures of Karen Hauer, Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas from the professional dancers line-up.
Speaking to the Press Association, Jordan – who appeared on the series as a professional dancer between 2006 and 2013 – said of the shake-up: “When you join Strictly, you’re taking someone’s job, OK? And people forget that because they’re on the show, but then when they’re asked to leave, and then they’re replaced, they’re only worried about that.”
He continued: “But they forget at some point, they took someone’s job. It’s just showbiz, that’s what it is. Enjoy it for what it is – it is a juggernaut of a show, and it was an honour for all of us to be part of it for so many years.
“But you have to remember that it will come to an end at some point, and all this controversy around, ‘oh, they’re changing so many of the pros’… it needed a shakeup. Some of the pros have been on there for 14 years… dead wood… get rid of them and bring someone younger in, in my opinion.”
However, former Strictly professional dancer Ian Waite believes the show “got rid of the wrong ones”.
He told the publication: “All the professional dancers are amazing in their own right, but you can’t stay on there forever. At some point, you have to give the younger ones a chance, because there’s so many amazing dancers out there.”
Jordan added that he believed the shake-up could have extended to the judging panel.
“I believed the cuts could have gone further and they could have got rid of some of the judges as well,” he said.
Speaking about the show’s tone, he continued: “It’s all got nicey-nicey now, isn’t it? It’s all politically correct, and ‘you can’t say this, and you can’t say that’. You can’t be negative because they’re (the contestants) are gonna cry. It’s a dance show. You need that baddie… but even Craig (Revel Horwood) now is kind of toned down a lot.”
He added: “It’s all like everyone loves everyone, and we’re all one big happy family. That’s not life, that’s not real life. I want to see how hard they’re working in the training room. I want to see the tears. I think that’s the magic that needs to come back.”
Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe were confirmed as the new hosts of the show last month following Daly and Winkleman’s departures.
The returning professionals line-up for the 2026 series has also been confirmed, with Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden, Katya Jones, Neil Jones and Nikita Kuzmin set to make a comeback to the dance floor.
Also returning are Aljaž Škorjanec, Jowita Przystał, Nancy Xu and Kai Widdrington.
They will be joined by Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley, Vito Coppola, Alexis Warr and Julian Caillon.
There will also be a host of brand new dancers joining the professionals line-up who are set to be unveiled at a later date.
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Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer later this year.
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