Strictly: Wynne Evans calls Jamie Borthwick 'cheat'
Strictly Come Dancing enthusiasts were left fuming as a fan-favourite pro was noticeably absent from this year's contest lineup.
The BBC One show dazzled audiences once again on Saturday (September 14) with the grand unveiling of its 20th series during the pre-recorded launch show hosted by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. The iconic duo warmly introduced a brand new contingent of 15 celebrity hopefuls, set to sashay their way towards the coveted Glitterball trophy.
Meanwhile judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke were all eager to share their first impressions. Sadly, however, not every professional dancer had the joy of being paired up for the glittering extravaganza.
And this included Carlos Gu, much to the disappointment of loyal viewers. Voicing their displeasure on social media, supporters didn't hold back their dismay.
A fan expressed deep dissatisfaction on X stating: "Kai, Lauren and Carlos have all proven themselves to be great pros and most importantly, get on well with their celebrities. WHY are they the ones chosen to be benched? Making the series look even worse."
Another disgruntled follower commented: "They dropped Carlos for goodness sake. Outrageous! I won't be watching.", reports the Mirror.
And a third lamented: "It's an absolute liberty that Carlos and Kai haven't got a partner this year. Sorry I'm fuming."
The celebrity and professional dancer pairings were unveiled during Saturday's (September 14) launch show. The full list of pairings includes: Chris McCausland with Dianne Buswell, Wynne Evans with Katya Jones, Shayne Ward with Nancy Xu and Jamie Borthwick with Michelle Tsiakkas.
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In addition to these, Pete Wicks will be dancing with Jowita Przysta and Montell Douglas with Johannes Radebe this year.
The remaining line-up features Sam Quek MBE paired with Nikita Kuzmin, JB Gill with Amy Dowden MBE, Toyah Willcox with Neil Jones, Sarah Hadland with Vito Coppola, Tasha Ghouri with Aljaz Skorjanec, Dr Punam Krishan with Gorka Marquez, Paul Merson with Karen Hauer, Tom Dean MBE with Nadiya Bychkova and Nick Knowles with Luba Mushtuk.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday, September 21 on BBC One
