Kai Widdrington breaks silence on Strictly future after being dropped from 2024 series

Kai Widdrington has spoken out about Strictly's future (Image: BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing professional Kai Widdrington has broken his silence on the show’s future from his perspective after being dropped by show bosses for the upcoming series following his break up with fellow star Nadiya Bychkova.

This year fans were devastated to learn that firm favourite pro Kai will not be given a celebrity partner for the 2024 series.

Last year Kai danced with Angela Rippon, and the year before had been paired with Kaye Adams and the year before, AJ Odudu.

Now Kai is left without a celebrity partner for the new series which starts on Saturday and has spoken out about the show's future.

function loadOvpScript(){let el=document.createElement('script');el.setAttribute('src','https://live.primis.tech/live/liveView.php?s=118222&playerApiId=v118222');document.getElementById('ovp-primis').appendChild(el)} window.top.addEventListener('primisPlayerInit',e=>{try{if(e.detail&&e.detail.playerApiId==="v118222"){if(window.document.getElementsByClassName('jwplayer')[0]){e.detail.float('disable')}}}catch(e){}});window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded',()=>{setTimeout(()=>{if(typeof flagTcfLoaded!=='undefined'&&flagTcfLoaded===!0){loadOvpScript() ExpressApp.Log('[Load] OVP flagTcfLoaded',new Date())}else{document.addEventListener("tcfLoaded",()=>{loadOvpScript() ExpressApp.Log('[Load] OVP tcfLoaded',new Date())})}},1500)})

READ MORE: Our Yorkshire Farm’s Raven Owen and Strictly’s Nadiya Bychkova leave UK together

It comes just weeks after it was reported that Kai had broken up with his Strictly squeeze, Ukrainian-Slovenian blonde bombshell and fellow pro dancer Nadiya Bychkova.

The pair had put on their own live shows in the summer, touring around the UK relentlessly and performing together every night.

But it was reported that the pair had ‘grown apart’ and split up after two years of dating.

This week, the BBC interviewed Kai Widdrington as part of the show’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

Kai was asked as part of that how he feels about the future of the series.

Kai gave a very short answer, the shortest of all the pros who were interviewed, as he simply said: “I think it's going to be bigger and better, probably with more glitter, and filled with weird and wonderful things.”

Nadiya, meanwhile, told the channel: “I think every year, I fall in love with the show more and more because you just realise every year how incredible it is. The fact that it's still going strong after 20 years is especially amazing nowadays, in this industry, in this world, in our lives, where everything is changing so quickly.

"Everything comes and goes. The fact that this show is still going strong, getting bigger and better every year, and surprising us with new things is incredible. Being part of something so huge that touches people's hearts is absolutely incredible.

Nadiya Bychkova and Kai Widdrington have broken up (Image: Getty) window.topArticlesScript="https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/js/dist/article-top-articles20240911.min.js" SUBSCRIBE Invalid email

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy

“The next 20 years is a long time. I think the show is just growing in so many ways. With the way our lives and industry are developing, it's more accessible to more people. We can probably reach an even bigger audience because of social media. I think all of us are working on ourselves, and people are working to make sure the whole show is better and really accessible to anyone. So, I think it will just keep on going, keep on growing. Who knows, maybe in 20 years, my daughter will be on the show dancing with another celeb! Maybe the next generation will take over.”

The show has recently been plagued by a series of scandals behind the scenes which led to the departure of pros Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, which led to calls to axe the show from some critics.

Despite that, the new series begins on Saturday, September 14 at 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Kai Widdrington breaks silence on Strictly future after being dropped from 2024 series

Kai Widdrington breaks silence on Strictly future after being dropped from 2024 series

Kai Widdrington breaks silence on Strictly future after being dropped from 2024 series

Kai Widdrington breaks silence on Strictly future after being dropped from 2024 series

Kai Widdrington breaks silence on Strictly future after being dropped from 2024 series