AJ Leaves Strictly

AJ Pritchard has today announced that he will be leaving Strictly Come Dancing.

AJ was on the BBC's list of confirmed pros released on 12th March, but he has now decided that he wishes to depart to pursue presenting opportunities.

He posted the announcement on his social channels:

I have some news for you all. Please see the below statement from my team 💙 also sending my love to everyone in this difficult time, please keep safe. AJ x pic.twitter.com/Z3jG5ItepP

— AJ Pritchard (@Aj11Ace) March 26, 2020

Interesting that the statement references presenting with Curtis specifically. This makes me think that they have already been offered something together.

I wish AJ all the best. He's been very successful on Strictly, reaching a semi-final, two quarter-finals and placed 6th last year. He has quite a big following, who I'm sure will be very sorry to see him leave.

Kevin Clifton Announces Strictly Departure

Kevin Clifton took to Twitter this afternoon to announce his decision to leave Strictly Come Dancing.

Kevin, who has been with the programme since Series 11 in 2013, won the glitterball in 2018 with now girlfriend Stacey Dooley, having been runner-up on four previous occasions. Last year, he and Anneka Rice were the first ones to leave the competition.

He posted:

♥️ pic.twitter.com/2IITQIPYhC

— Kevin Clifton (@keviclifton) March 6, 2020

I can completely understand Kevin's decision. As he states in his tweetm, he's achieved pretty much everything that is possible on the show.

He can now devote more time to other projects. After touring with musical Rock of Ages last year, he recently completed a successful run as the lead in The Wedding Singer in London. I saw the show, and I thought it was the perfect part for him.

He's also touring with Burn The Floor this spring and has his own podcast - The Kevin Clifton Show. If you listen to the podcast, you'll know just how busy Kevin is, and freeing up four months of his year will inevitably alleviate some of the pressure. I fully expect to see him in 'Choreography Corner' on It Takes Two.

I wonder if he'll grow his hair long again now...

I think Kellie Bright was my favourite of his partners, and in my opinion, they should have won it. Here is their Star Wars themed Charleston:

Congratulations, James & Ola!

Congratulations to former Strictly pros James & Ola Jordan, whose baby girl arrived last Thursday.

They each posted on Instagram to announce the news, Ola posting a picture the baby's hand and James posting an image of the baby's feet.

View this post on Instagram

She’s here and she is perfect 💕 #mummy

A post shared by Ola Jordan (@olajordan) on Feb 29, 2020 at 10:55am PST

View this post on Instagram

I’m the happiest man in the world #daddy

A post shared by James Jordan (@jamesjordan1978) on Feb 29, 2020 at 10:55am PST