Katya Virshilas leaves “Strictly”

Posted on June 20, 2012

“Strictly Come Dancing” professional Katya Virshilas has been dropped from the BBC series. Katya, a Lithuanian-born dancer who made her debut in series seven in 2009, is the only professional who will not be returning this year.

In last year’s series, Katya danced with TV sports presenter Dan Lobb. In 2010, she partnered rugby player Gavin Henson, making it to fifth place. Earlier this year, Katya and fellow “Strictly” professional Pasha Kovalev toured the UK with the show An Evening with Pasha and Katya.

This year, “Strictly Come Dancing” has two new executive producers. Glenn Coomber has previously worked as executive producer on ITV1’s “Dancing on Ice”, while Andrea Hamilton was series editor for BBC1’s “The Voice” and executive producer for the channel’s “So You Think You Can Dance”. Some professionals had feared the new executives would lead a much greater shake-up of the professional line-up. James Jordan, who clashed on screen with judge Craig Revel Horwood, had admitted to nerves about the next series.

The programme also has a new judge, ballerina Darcey Bussell. Look out for our interview with Darcey, which will run in the August issue of Dance Today.

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.