I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere, but I got hold of this article in Sunday's NOTW (I do think we should bear in mind what happened with Nicole this time last year though, rather than assuming all of this is true!)

Strictly Come Cheap

So... most of the dancers haven't signed yet?

Karen and Hayley unlikely to return (to be honest- has Hayley really been offered another contract?)

Alesha potentially earning more than three times what the pros get, for less than half the work and a miniscule fraction of the knowledge and ability!

This series could be in trouble

They say Darren and Lilia have confirmed they are doing the series though! This is the first time I have heard this, so let's hope it's true!

It doesn't bode well if the rest of them are holding out though. They must announce the line-up next month (i.e. maybe in the next week or 2!!) as training will start and people might see them.

Im wondering if all this "negotiating" is all about this pros tour thing...

Your fee gets bumped up a little but you have to commit for longer.... on a whilly nilly thing...

Vincent and Flavia have been saying for a while they are definitely back this year.... (presume this means they have signed contracts - but it may not be so).

Isn't Hayley a new dancer? I think she is, she made her debut in last year's series so would seem a quick amount of time to ditch the show.

I guess, in theory, if all the dancers came together and said to the BBC "pay us more or we all quit!" it might force their hand. On the other hand there must be other pro-dancers out there who'd love a chance to appear on the show. It's a shame there's a lot of backbiting on the show. It seems it's all about this person getting more money than this person. Seems a shame it's made so public but I guess that's life.

It would definately force their hands, I remeber ther Friends cast did the same thing and then got paid huge salaries.. As you said others would would love to participate too,a nd they might do it for lower wages since for them it is an opportunity not to miss..

Ian has confirmed he definately will be back.. (not sure whether contract is signed though...)

I think in both cases they have been saying they will be back well before they could have received a contract, so I assume that is more an intention to return rather than contracts have been signed.

I dont get the BBC willing to risk sacrificing the true talent on striclty who are the lowest cost on the show anyway.....

They could have saved a fortune by NOT having 3 commentators on one match at Wimbledon (one being the highly paid Tim Henman who said about 6 words on each match he did) or NOT sending Gary Linekar to the Open Golf (presumambly five star hotels and all expenses paid) for 30 seconds of introduction and the odd comment during the day......he could have done that in the studio in London

But do they do that NO they pay the unqualified Alesha Dixon to look pretty and argue over the fairly modest pay of the professionals dancers without who there would BE no show.

Sorry feeling cross will get off soap box now.

Don't be sorry, it gets my goat too! They only just had their pay raised last year and now they're looking to slash it again I know everyone is taking a pay cut at the moment but if thats the case why pay Alesha so much. One of the reasons I don't think its right that Alesha is replacing Arlene is because I think it shows a blase attitude to the pros and their experience, and this is also reflected in their pay unfortunately .

I'm amazed from that Alesha will even be working 20 hours a week on the show Surely she is only there on a Saturday and occasional ITT appearances.

I didn't mean for this post to turn into yet another rant about Alesha.....but it has....whoopsie sorry.

What they should have done was get rid of one judge (Bruno) and not replace him- DWTS only had three judges when I checked last and it worked ok, and removes the need for a casting vote. Then divide Alesha's salary amongst the pros to give them an extra 6k each- much better use of the money!

The only problem with getting rid of a judge is this. You know what it results in more of?

Ties on the scoreboard.

After last year I don't think anybody wants that.

No problem, we'll make them all score out of 79 instead of 10

Get them to score out of 69 and keep a camera on Bruno in the audience just to see how jealous he is over all the comments he's missing out on making.

Also think of the potential for random claims that the standard has increased- no-one has ever had a perfect 207 before!

And Arlene would be able to make so much of giving a 69 to a Rumba!

Yeah but you know Len would never use a paddle below a 38.

No, but Craig would be even more thrilled to give something a one!

Jan - brilliant post - IMO - I agree with all of it - I am angry - IMO this stinks - how they can justify her replacing Arlene and being paid more than the other judges is beyond me menawhile they quibble over the money to be paid to the PROFESSIONALS- no wonder Alesha Dixon loves SCD so much!!!!!! She is laughing all the way to the bank - congatulations to Alesha and her agent - great gig - I just wish as a Licence Fee payer I am some say

How does anyone actually know who is paid what on SCD ? It all seems to be speculation so far. But like any commercial decision , if it is true, then it is down to market valuation. E.g. other than Strictly what other highly paid work can any of the professionals get ? certainly nothing like they get on the show, Bruno and Len get the additional US money, because of their profile on SCD, and i guess Alesha will have to be paid in line with what she can earn as a pop star,which would be considerably more than on TV i'd imagine.

I do understand you feeling cross as I get annoyed by the seemingly bottomless budget pit that sports on the BBC seems to have, although if it means that the sport remains on terrestrial TV I can put up with it. But people watch SCD for many reasons and tbh I doubt if watching the pros is at the top of the list.

I would imagine each show will have a budget and I can't see after 6 series the pros suddenly getting a huge increase in salary under any circumstances. There are plenty of others who would jump at the chance to get the PR exposure SCD gives them which is probably much more lucrative than their SCD salary. I would imagine the pros are long used to the others on the show being paid more than them and I can't imagine any of them saying "XXXXX shouldn't get paid more than me".

We don't know for sure what anyone is being paid, but at the end of the day everyone involved with the show has a market value and I can't believe anyone would seriously expect Alesha to be paid less than the judges.

Remember this is showbiz, not real life.

I think Buddy has a good point, I actually think the rumoured £100K for Alesha is quite restrained, given that Brucie has come down to ~£500K, and the judges pay is probably somewhere between the presenters and the pros.

To get the big names you have to pay the going rate, and sadly the pros are not big names as far as the general public are concerned.

If the pros love working on SCD and want the exposure which will earn them more in the long run, it may not seem fair for the amount of work they put in, but they will probably end up taking the pay cut.

I think it's anything but restrained tbh...IF it's anything like correct that's more or less £8000 a week for a few hours work on saturday and the odd ITT appearance...Meanwhile, just down the road, the pro's are flogging their asses off all week for a sight less I've never been happy about the disparity between the judges pay and the pro's, and I don't think that feeling will get any better this year.

But that has always been the case from day one and this subject is discussed every year as we know now just how hard the pros work. After 6 series nothing is going to change now. Who would have guessed SCD would turn out to be such a popular show? As I said earlier I doubt if any of the pros would turn down the work these days, as it would be cutting off their nose to spite their face.

I read something the other day about one of the early male pros not doing SCD for more than one series because he couldn't keep his dance school going at the same time. I wonder if he regrets that decision?

The current pros seem to have adapted their working lives around SCD and use the exposure they get from it to drive their careers much further than they could ever have dreamed of so that they are now celebs in their own right.

I don't see the point in comparing salaries as it is each person involved with the show choice to accept a contract if offered. I really don't want to think too much about how much they get paid when my husband has just been made redundant. SCD is in the fantasy world of showbiz and bears no resemblance to real life.

I agree Buddy Appearing on Strictly has made new career possibilities available that most hadn't really envisaged just a few years ago, and the wages issue probably bothers me more than it does them

I read something similar last week, they mentioned Karen Hardy not returning and several others including Brendan not having signed contracts.