There was shock today when Strictly Come Dancing stalwart Brendan Cole revealed he’d been axed from the show.
He made the emotional announcement on ITV’s Lorraine, before bumping into his last Strictly dance partner, Charlotte Hawkins, backstage at the TV studios.
And Charlotte was quick to offer support to her old pal.
Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte, 42, and Brendan, 41, may not have troubled the Strictly leaderboard too much in the 2017 series, finishing third-last overall.
But they evidently hit it off as friends, and Charlotte was quick to join Brendan’s legion of fans in offering him support after his bad news.
GMB is filmed in the same building as Lorraine Kelly’s show, and Charlotte bumped into her old pal while he was there.
She later tweeted a picture of the two of them, writing: “Good to see @BrendanCole earlier at @ITV, but a tough morning for him having to talk about leaving @bbcstrictly.
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“What lovely messages of support from all of you. I still can’t believe it – I’ve watched the show for years, but there’ll be a sparkle less for me from now on.”
Earlier, Brendan had revealed that he was in “shock” after hearing that he’d been booted off the BBC dancing programme.
The star has taken part in every series since it began in 2004, partnering everyone from Kelly Brook to Lisa Snowdon, Lulu to Kirsty Gallacher, and was crowned champion once (with Natasha Kaplinsky in 2004).
He told Lorraine Kelly: “This is quite hard to talk about. The BBC haven’t renewed my contract – we get renewed year on year – and they made an editorial decision not to have me back on the show.
Read more: Strictly Come Dancing issues statement after Brendan Cole reveals he’s been axed
“I’m a little bit in shock. I’m quite emotional, a bit raw about it.”
Following Brendan’s revelation, the Strictly Twitter account issued a statement wishing the dancer well.
It read: “We’d like to thank Brendan Cole for being part of the show since the beginning – winner of the first series – and for the contribution he has made to its success.
“We wish him all the very best for the future.”
Hear hear!