Reverend Richard Coles speaks about Strictly Come Dancing on BBC Breakfast amid scandals and says there are 'intense things going on'.
Have YOU got a story? Email [email protected] Richard Coles said there's 'so much going on behind the family friendly glittering surface' of Strictly after he claimed the show has a 'dark heart'.
'Strictly is showbusiness and the sort of family friendly glittering surface that you see, well behind that is all sorts of intense things going on,' he said on Thursday. 'But I think it's exactly that, in the glitter of the glitter ball you see one thing but off stage of course it's a different story.'
He acknowledged that the dancers often come from a very intense training background, so felt chaperone could help them understand that for the celebrity it is a 'culture shock'. Richard revealed that he had a 'whale of time' on the show with Dianne but shared that he wasn't surprised by the recent scandals
'You form very deep relationships, intense relationships and sometimes quite surprising relationships with the people you work with and then all of a sudden you’re in the back of a cab with a bunch of flowers and that’s you don. So I think it can be quite challenging for some.' Speaking in an interview with Times Radio he said: 'I remember somebody who worked on the show for years and years turning to me and saying"Strictly is a wonderful show with a dark heart" and I never really understood what that meant'
'All human experience is mixed, we know that. Introduce that element of competition to it, you know, it's a career-making or a career-breaking experience for some people. He added: 'Strictly is a competition. It works because there is an elimination at the heart of it. And that elimination can be a brutal experience and it's full of very competitive people doing what they can to avoid being eliminated and that can sometimes make things extremely intense.
'It's quite right of the BBC with its duty of care to protect contestants from that and also to just help dancers work out what the right angle of approach is to the programme and the people they work with.' But there have been accusations of a massive cover-up by the BBC over claims crew members complained about Graziano's behaviour during the series but no action was taken.
When a group of Strictly production staff witnessed the way Graziano treated Zara in last year's series, they reported their concerns to their superiors. But, instead of sacking him, senior execs ignored their worries and have Graziano 'quiet warnings'. But Strictly sources told the Mail they believe there was a 'cover-up' of Graziano's behaviour, which 'bosses hoped would save fan-favourite Di Prima from being ousted'.
Executives at the BBC are said to be 'deeply worried' that the fans will stop watching as scandal continues to surround their their flagship showAnd all this is threatening the show's major 20th anniversary series. Read MoreEXCLUSIVE Strictly in crisis as show struggles to sign up female stars, reveals KATIE HIND Insiders at the Corporation say they are having problems recruiting female celebs in particular, especially high-profile ones.
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