Strictly Come Dancing most vicious feuds and clapback that ‘got one pro sacked’

With long hours, intense rehearsals and agonising injuries all par for the course on Strictly Come Dancing it's no wonder the sequins often fly.

From clashing contestants and dancer disagreements to fiery rows with judges, things regularly get heated on the BBC One show.

Just this week, news anchor Fiona Phillips revealed she'd butted heads with her 2005 pro partner Brendan Cole, branding him a 'real b****r' and claiming his eventual sacking was 'karma'.

"He was really naughty," the 59-year-old GMTV host told the Daily Star.

She went on: "He's not on the show now. Karma indeed. It works its way every time."


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Throughout his 14 year tenure, Brendan – who is yet to comment – frequently took the judges to task and even publicly blasted the show over dancers' wages.

He was also rumoured to have been embroiled in a behind-the-scenes feud with head judge  Shirley Ballas , after she scored the head judge job he'd been favourite for.

And in January 2018 he made a tearful appearance on ITV's Lorraine revealing he'd been given his marching orders.

"I’m a little bit in shock. I’m quite emotional, a bit raw about it," he told the show.

“I’ve always known this day would come… I’m sure I’ll never know the ins and outs. I’m a very strong character within the show, I have my strong views.”

But Brandon certainly isn't the first star to have clashed with his co-stars…

Will Young and Karen Clifton


  • X Factor star Brendan Cole's colourful love life and savage Strictly sacking

Will mysteriously quit the show midway through in October 2016 after a judge Len Goodman  told him to "turn up, keep up and shut up" in a row over his Bollywood routine.

Citing "personal reasons", Will beat a hasty retreat, leaving his pro partner Karen devastated.

"I haven't really been in touch with Will since the show," she told the Radio Times in 2017.

"I think everybody understands his reasons and we all understand, but it's hard when there's the other half. It's my job and I love my job and it was really hard for me to stay behind and see everybody have an amazing series and not to be a part of it."

However, a source told The Mirror at the time that Will left in part due to backstage "squabbles" with Karen.

"Karen was just doing her job, she was training him hard but in the end he just didn’t want to keep getting told off and corrected all the time," the insider said.

"It infuriated him. They squabbled a few times during rehearsals and it left him feeling exhausted."

Alexandra Burke and Debbie McGee

Reports claimed Strictly 2017 contestants Alexandra and Debbie were locked in a "bitter rivalry" after both were favoured to win.

“There is real drama between Alexandra and Debbie," a source claimed to The Sun.

"With every week that passes, things become even more strained between them. Neither of them is showing any sign of winding down on this.

“The hardest part of it all is that their dance partners, Giovanni (Pernice) and Gorka (Marquez), are the best of mates."

Debbie fuelled the gossip by hitting out at fake celebs, blasting, “I understand that we can all have favourites.

“But some people who are not very warm in real life come through on TV as very warm.”

However, she later denied beefing with Alexandra, insisting, "We have a really special friendship. It's absolute rubbish."

And Alexandra also poured cold water on that and rumours she'd clashed with her partner Gorka over his budding romance with their co-star Gemma Atkinson.

"I’m telling you, every single [report] isn’t true. It’s laughable," she told Huff Post UK.

"I don’t even know where it comes from."

Brendan Cole and Shirley Ballas

Brendan said his "cards were marked" after he mocked Shirley in her first week as head judge – the role he'd had his eye on.

Appearing on BBC2 show It Takes Two, when Zoe Ball asked if he was hoping to impress the newcomer, he sniped, "I’d imagine she’s more likely to be wanting to impress us, I’ve been on the show 15 years, she’s just showed up."

He quickly saw the "error of my ways" and fired off an apology – which he said went unanswered.

“I sent her a message saying, ‘Didn’t mean any offence, just making good telly’. I didn’t get a reply,” he said in John Bishop: In Conversation With.

However, Shirley – who routinely irked Brendan with her critiques of his partner Charlotte Hawkins – insisted there was nothing to see here, thank you very much.

"I don't have any recollection on a personal level of bridges ever being broken or rebuilt between me and Brendan," she told Hello! magazine.

Gorka Marquez and Kevin Clifton

Gorka made no secret of his disappointment when he wasn't given a celebrity partner last year.

And he was even more narked when Kevin Clifton was drafted in to partner Alex Scott after her pro partner Neil Jones injured himself in training.

Kevin had already had a partner in the form of Anneka Rice, who got eliminated in the second week.

Making his feelings known, Gorka retweeted a series of angry fan messages including one that read, "Gorka deserved it not Kevin who already had a partner this year."

“Should have be Gorks not King Kev," read another.

And rumours of a simmering beef between the two dancers first surfaced in August when Kevin ignored Gorka's 'demotion' but sent messages of comfort to their co-star Graziano, who was in the same boat.

Referencing his sister Joanna Clifton, Kevin tweeted his support to Garziano, writing, "Mate, my sister was the same in her second series.

"In her third series she won! You’re one of the best dancers I know so get ready to OWN 2020!"

But when Gorka tweeted about his own lack of partner, fans noticed there was radio silence from Kevin.

James Jordan and Craig Revel Horwood


James and Craig clashed constantly before the former quit the BBC show after being offered a reduced role.

Things got particularly nasty when Craig took offence at James' wife Ola's raunchy Christmas calendar, commenting that images of the Strictly star “pouring milk all over herself with her legs spread" might not be the right look.

James branded him "vile", raging, "How can he say it’s not okay to sell a sexy Christmas calendar, but it is okay to sell his own book telling the world he was a drunken rent boy, and call it All Balls and Glitter."

In return, Craig accused his nemesis of trying to drum up headlines, and this year James called for him to be sacked from Strictly.

"The show doesn't need Craig. He should go. If Craig was gone they wouldn't notice any difference at all. The viewers wouldn't miss him either. No-one would miss him," he raged to the Daily Star.

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