Strictly fan favourite pro dancer ‘left without celebrity partner’ in new series

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

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Strictly Come Dancing fans will be left disappointed as a key member of the cast has been left without a partner.

Kai Widdrington has reportedly been dropped from the forthcoming season’s lineup, as a male-heavy roster of celebrities mean that more female professionals have been confirmed for them to partner up with.

It means that fan favourite Widdrington, has been left without a partner and dropped from the show.

A source told The Sun: “Kai has become the first casualty of this year’s male-heavy line-up.

“With so few female celebrities it was inevitable that some of the professionals would miss out on a pairing, but it’s a real blow that Kai is one of them.”

However, the professional dancer pairings have not been confirmed yet, and are usually announced in the launch of the show.

The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.

The news comes after rumours that he and fellow professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova have split up.

Expected to return in the autumn, the 20th anniversary series is to welcome the show’s first blind contestant, Olympic champions and soap actors, all hoping to lift the glitterball trophy.

As the final contestants were announced, some took issue with what they considered a “gender imbalance”, after nine men and six women were enlisted to appear on the show.

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“We are really excited about this year’s line up and look forward to the series starting,” a BBC spokesperson told Metro.

They continued: “There are many factors that influence the casting process to ensure we have a good mix of celebrities from a broad range of backgrounds. There is no hard and fast rule regarding the gender split on the show and it’s never been about ticking boxes.”

The show’s 2024 line-up includes EastEnders starJamie Borthwick, TV personality Nick Knowles, Olympic champion Tom Dean, X Factor winner and Coronation Street actor Shayne Ward, JLS singer JB Gill, and former Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri.

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Other contestants include Miranda actor Sarah Hadland, The Only Way is Essex star Pete Wicks, singer Wynne Evans, singer and actor Toyah Wilcox, and BBC Morning Live GP Dr Punam Krishan.

The once wholesome dancing contest has been plagued by scandal and controversy in recent months after a number of allegations surfaced about professional dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, leading to them being dropped from the show amid a BBC investigation.