Phillips On Phillips

Former Strictly participant Fiona Phillips commented on Arlene's departure in her Mirror column this week.

She wrote: "Since when was Alesha Dixon a choreographer? And who, outside the chattering class pastures of the broadsheets and the Royal Ballet, cares about Darcey Bussell? Arlene Phillips, on the other hand, was an essential part of the winning Strictly Come Dancing formula – her caustic comments cutting through the ice of a wintry Saturday night, willing you to throw your takeaway at the TV screen as she lay in to a well-meant but hopeless celebrity dancer."