The Strictly Come Dancing professionals have denied claims they’re pushing for a pay rise.
The pros on the BBC One series are understood to be paid £50,000 a year for their work on the show.
That compares to the £150,000 to £250,000 pay of the judges, which has apparently led to some grumbles behind the scenes.
“The professionals have been talking among themselves and are going to come together to ask Strictly bosses for a pay rise,” a source said this week. “They put in incredible hours rehearsing both with their celebrities and also group routines. A lot of them are putting in 10 hour days which is a lot of dancing.”
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, the source explained: “It has been on the cards for a long time and they haven’t had a payrise in years. They love the show, they just want to feel their money reflects the amount of work they put in and also the celebrity status and profile that comes with it.
“Some of them are now almost better known than the celeb contestants and they feel that should lead to more cash — especially when the judges get paid so much just for turning up once a week. Some feel it’s a bit of a joke.”
However Oti Mabuse denied the reports in an interview with OK! Magazine this week.
She said: “There is no pay row with any of the dancers. We don’t have time to be rowing, we’re too busy focusing on the competition!
“We are happy and very grateful to be on TV and have a job. We’re very lucky to be on Strictly and get whatever fee we do get.”
This year’s Strictly Come Dancing sees the biggest line up of pros yet.
For 2018 the professional dancers include a number of new faces after two others left. The BBC Has confirmed three new pros for this year’s series: They are Italian Latin Champion Graziano Di Prima, Professional South African Latin Champion Johannes Radebe and four-time winner of the Italian Dance Championship Luba Mushtuk.
But we have lost two Strictly pros: Brendan Cole, a series original, and Chloe Hewitt, who joined in 2016, will both be leaving the show.
The new pros will join returning Strictly professionals AJ Pritchard, Aljaž Škorjanec, Amy Dowden, Anton Du Beke, Dianne Buswell, Giovanni Pernice, Gorka Marquez, Janette Manrara, Karen Clifton, Katya Jones, Kevin Clifton, Nadiya Bychkova, Neil Jones, Oti Mabuse and Pasha Kovalev.
However Neil Jones plus newbies Graziano and Johannes won’t get a celeb partner, instead only appearing in the pro routines and acting as standbys in case of any injuries.
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday nights on BBC One.
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