Brendan Cole axed from Strictly Come Dancing after 14 years

Brendan Cole has been axed from Strictly Come Dancing after 14 years of competing on the show.

BBC bosses have chosen not to renew the professional dancer’s contract, despite him being one of the show’s biggest personalities for an entire 15 series.

Appearing on today’s Lorraine, Brendan expressed his disappointment and argued the show will miss having such a feisty character who “will argue with the judges”.

The 41-year-old said: “It’s quite, actually, hard to talk about. The BBC haven’t renewed my contract.

“We get contracted year upon year. They’ve made an editorial decision to not have me back on the show. I’m a little bit in shock. I’m quite emotional, a bit raw about it.

“It’s done via a process of a phone call and stuff. I have had 15 incredible series on the show. I’m very proud of the whole show. It’s a great team. I’m disappointed. It’s very hard to talk about. It’s a recent decision.”

Brendan continued: “I’ve always known this day would come. To get to this point, the BBC make the decisions year upon year. It’s an editorial decision. I’m sure I’ll never know the ins and outs. I’m a very strong character within the show, I have my strong views.

“I feel like I’ve made a massive difference to the show. Even though the show has a different team, I will always be one of the ones who was part of the journey who got it to where it is today. And to not be a part of that is hard.”

The dancer insisted he will, however, continue to tune in to support his friends on the show.

“It’s going to be hard for me to watch,” he admitted. “But I’m a fan of the show and the show comes first. They’ve made the decision and I respect it completely – I don’t like it very much – but I still want to support my friends. I’m a strong character in the show and they won’t have that anymore. No one will argue with the judges.”

Brendan received the upsetting news about his departure last week, but kept it to himself until today. He explained: “I literally told the pros about 10 minutes ago. I couldn’t say it. My heart has been racing since I came on the show to tell you yesterday.”

Looking towards the future, Brendan said: “It opens up a world of possibilities that I haven’t had before. I’m excited about the future but I’m nervous about it.”

Lorraine continues weekdays at 8:30am on ITV.