It doesn’t seem like two minutes ago that Strictly bosses were showing Brendan Cole the exit door, but according to reports they’ve already set their sights on his replacement.
Producers are said to want someone with a bit of physical presence to step in for 6ft1 Brendan, as they feel there aren’t enough tall dancers on the show.
Well, the man in question would certainly raise the average height a few inches – and he might raise a few eyebrows, too.
According to the Sunday People, BBC chiefs are sizing up 20-year-old Curtis Pritchard – the younger brother of AJ.
Curtis bears a striking resemblance to his older sibling, but at 6ft2 is a full six inches taller!
The younger Pritchard followed in AJ’s footsteps by training at their parents’ dance school in Cheshire. And a source told the newspaper that he’s seen as a like-for-like substitute for Brendan.
They explained: “With a distinct lack of tall male dancers to fill Brendan’s shoes, Strictly had a tough job on their hands.
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“But they’ve now found the perfect fit in Curtis. He may be AJ’s younger brother but he’s certainly not smaller than his 5ft 7in stature, which means he could be partnered with the taller women celebrities.”
And to make it even more of a family affair, Curtis could be joined on the show by his girlfriend.
The Mirror Online claimed this week that Emily Barker, 19, is ‘ready to step in’ as a replacement for pro dancer Chloe Hewitt, who is reportedly in danger of being axed.
A spokesman for Strictly told Entertainment Daily that the line-up of professional dancers would be “confirmed in due course”.
Speaking of Strictly, earlier this week, former contestant Laura Whitmore admitted that she felt “uncomfortable” being partnered with Giovanni Pernice in the 2016 series.
Giovanni had recently split up with Laura’s friend, former Corrie star Georgia May Foote – who he’d partnered with on Strictly the previous year.
And Laura, 32, wrote in a blog post for Hot Press magazine: “I’m still not ready to talk in depth about my experience on the show.
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“I love dancing – I topped the leaderboard twice – but before it even began, I was thrown into the lion’s den and into the middle of someone’s break-up that had nothing to do with me.
“I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with – and in the end I felt broken.”
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