Exclusive: Kristina Rihanoff suggests BBC should 'park Strictly Come Dancing for a year' after controversy

Ex-Strictly Come Dancing professional Kristina Rihanoff has suggested the BBC should "park" the show for a year after its recent controversies. Kristina left Strictly in 2015 and welcomed her first child with partner Ben Cohen the following year.

Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy at the Best Heroes Awards, Kristina said: "I definitely think that Strictly has evolved a lot and maybe with all the controversy they had, maybe it's a good thing just to park it for a year.

"You know, and kind of think about something exciting and new. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it because Dancing with the Stars has done that and they go from strength-to-strength now."

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"So I think sometimes it's actually good to let people miss the show, to let people kind of think, 'oh what it's gonna be like when it comes back? So I don't know," she added. "I think that's something to maybe think about."

Strictly has been hit by a few scandals in recent years, including bullying claims made by contestant Amanda Abbington towards pro dancer Giovanni Pierce, who repeatedly denied allegations of threatening or abusive behaviour.

The BBC later apologised to Abbington following their review into the situation, adding that they had "assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made".

Last October, long-time hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly announced they were leaving the show, with the trio of Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe, and Johannes Radebe being announced as their replacements back in May.

Speaking about new host Emma and whether she's been watching 2026 series, Kristina said: "I think Emma is an absolute gem. I think she's one of the best presenters we have in the whole of the country. I haven't watched Strictly just yet.

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"I'm working every weekend, I'm either judging competitions or taking my daughter to competitions, so I'm yet to watch and see things in action, but all I know that Emma is absolutely and incredible."

Kristina went on to say that she now sees Strictly as an "entertainment show," meaning its about more than just the quality of the dance routines.

"I just think that show is very different nowadays. It was just a very different show to what it is now altogether," the dancer added.

Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.

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Reporter, Digital Spy  

Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.

After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.

Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.