Dame Arlene Phillips has slammed her former Strictly Come Dancing judges, admitting she ‘couldn’t tolerate’ some of her co-stars.
Between 2004 and 2009, he served on the judging panel alongside the late Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli.
She was then replaced by previous winner and Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon, who has since stated that she was given ‘no notice’ of her axe.
Despite not getting along with all of the judges, Dame Arlene misses being on the BBC One programme and being a “part of that crazy life.”
Dame Arlene told Naga Munchetty and Ben Thompson on Thursday’s BBC Breakfast: ‘You establish a relationship with some, you genuinely can’t tolerate others, but that’s life.’
She added: ‘But you do form a bond and I miss it, I miss being part of that crazy life.’
Dame Arlene has previously shared how difficult she found her axe to process, saying: ‘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 went on to say that now that she’d had more time to think about it, she regretted not asking the necessary questions after learning the news.
‘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,’ she added to The Mirror in March 2022.
At the time, it was rumoured Dame Arlene was let go due to the BBC thought she ‘too old,’ however, she said at the time she still doesn’t know why she was replaced by Alesha, 35 years her junior.
Dame Arlene previously discussed the show’s heartbreaking homage to Goodman, who died in April at the age of 78 after being diagnosed with bone cancer.
Before his final appearance on the BBC’s flagship programme on Christmas Day 2016, Goodman had become associated with his catchphrase ‘Seven’.
‘He was amazing in every way,’ host Claudia Winkleman said in a video tribute on Saturday’s debut programme. Len had the ability to light up a room, and when you were with him, you felt aglow.
‘He would say pickle my walnuts, he was funny, you wanted to watch him.’
Meanwhile Craig said: ‘I don’t think I will meet anyone as funny.
‘I absolutely adored our little arguments and that is what sort of bonded us and gave us a fantastic friendship.’
Struggling to hold back his tears, he added: ‘If you asked me the question ‘was Len one of your best friends’, I would say absolutely.’
Talking about the emotional segment, Dame Arlene said on Thursday: ‘I thought the tribute was beautiful and I’m also so pleased that on Dancing with the Stars in America they’re going to do a massive tribute to him too.’
She went on: ‘It was such a loss and it was so sudden for many of us because it was really, only a few knew, Bruno knew… it was a real shock.’
‘Bruno messaged with me yesterday on and off, and he did know that he was ill. I didn’t. He wanted it kept very, very quiet,’ Arlene had previously said during an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine.
She admitted that Goodman’s death came as a shock to her as he was ‘fit as a fiddle’.
‘He was a man of great strength. He was out on the golf course early morning, fit as a fiddle, and then cancer invaded. It’s a painful cancer.
‘It feels like it happened so fast because one minute there was Len, and then the next minute, you find out that he’s passed away.’
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One.
BBC Breakfast airs weekdays from 6am.
