Strictly seriously needs to up its game with regard to the way it treats its professionals. They don't get paid enough, don't feel appreciated, and even get shouted at while training for their numbers.

Most people working on high-profile TV programmes are getting paid well enough to compensate for the violation of their privacy by the gutter press, but the Strictly professionals' wages are capped at around £35000. If it was a normal show, they'd be able to continue to fit teaching into their schedule, but with Strictly being so full-on, they'll have to spend all their time working out choreography, rehearsing group dances, filming, and fitting around their professional's rehearsal availability.

I don't generally agree with huge payments for media stars, but I do think that given that it's high-profile, London-based, seasonal work, those professionals who stay longer in the competition need to be paid more, otherwise those without particular ties to the UK will continue move on to other, better opportunities.

Yes, but that £35,000 creates a huge future income generator - the massive publicity means they can do their own professional partnership tours or private engagements. Who would've paid to watch them without the publicity of SCD?

It's simply a question of supply and demand.


Strictly must already have a substantial budget. I think that must have progressively increased over the years as the production values have improved, not that I think that some of the "improvements" have actually been so.

Most professional dancers would jump at the chance of appearing in Strictly, as it dramatically increases their longer term "market value."
The difficulty seems to be to find people well known to the public, (I hate the term "celebrities,") who have "naff-all" to do between September and Christmas, usually the busiest time for entertainers, except, with some exceptions, for those who are usually on the BBC payroll doing other jobs, but their absence can be accommodated for much of the time needed for training. So to attract them the BBC have to make the pay worthwhile.

Therefore sad though it may seem, there is no need to pay ballroom dancers any more than they do. That's just good business sense.

As a licence payer, I've no argument with that.

I think the BBC needs to treat people better generally.

I get the feeling from various ex-BBCers that they are all treated rather poorly and the attitude is never exactly brilliant!

It isn't seasonal work - a professional dancer including Strictly dancers will teach/coach and adjudicate for example all year round. It raises their profiles, many are now household names, so some will star in their own shows, Brendan and Pasha to name just two.
I would not mind having the opportunity to earn £35K in what amounts to a few weeks. They can't be badly treated by the BBC as otherwise the pro's would not stay as long as they do. They would simply not return, even if asked.

I would love to earn £35,000 for 5 months work!

if the pros were badly treated or felt they didn't earn enough they simply wouldn't do it would they!

Brendan has been there since series 1 as has Anton - doubt they would have stayed that long if they were treated fairly

They all latch onto the fame and make a lot more from it, its a brilliant advert for them. Just a look in papers , you see Anton has a tour, Brendan has a tour, *as seen on SCD*, there are supporting websites, dance classes, calender's, more money on the tour, fashion etc.

They get a lot from it and there will be a long queue of dancers wanting to replace them.

Treat em mean - keep em keen.

I think the wage pales into insignificance when compared to the national exposure. I guess a lot of lucrative work comes their way directly as a result of being on the show.

I think Strictly would be a dream job for any dancer in UK. It is a lot of money, you get to remain in one place without lot of traveling, and you get your name out there. Kevin/Karen and Jeanette/Aljaz wouldn't have got their weekly blogs without strictly. Or magazine deals for their wedding. The only huge minus IMO is BBC using the pros private lives to create buzz for the show.

Agree. You have hit the nail on the head there. It's all the spin-offs that the dancers do that bring in the money and without Strictly they would be on far reduced means.

It happens every year. It's just a bit of "ratings chasing."

Tess is occasionally the one for making sly comments when talking to the pair on the completion of their dances.

Can't blame her for that, as it'd probably be on her auto-cue.

35 grand for at most 5 months work. Ola basically got 35 grand working full time for four weeks and then part time for the other 4 months.

I don't even get nearly 35 grand for a year's worth of full time work.

It's not that the pros arn't paid enough but that the judges and celebs are probably being paid too much.I get the celebs need a big bounty to entice them but what's the deal with the judges. C'mon over a 100 grand to turn up for rehearsals on Friday and to sit and make comments on a Saturday when over half the judging panel doesn't even have Proper ballroom or Latin expertise is a bit ridiculous.

I'd agree that the judges probably aren't worth what they are paid for just a few hours work a week. No training during the week necessary. The most strenuous activity is likely spending time in make-up.

But the BBC are fools to themselves with the way they've "bigged them up" with their "grand entrance" each week. That looks really silly.

In contrast, the band and the singers, just get a "passing mention," yet they really make the show far more, than the silly antics of the judges.

While i agree they do get paid a lot for 5 months work, they still have to work pretty hard for that cash.
Training at least 6 days a week for 6-7 hours. Not just with celeb partners but also for group dances. Not to mention press commitments, appearing on ITT.

I'd love to know how much the judges get paid to pass an opinion for an hour once a week.

I completely agree! The pro and celebrity dancers make the show what it is and work hard all week, the musicians and singers do wonders to make songs fit the dances (just about!) and yet the judges get paid more than any of them to sit and insult people - nice work if you can get it!

This is what I feel. They also have the choreography to do. They must be pretty well full-on for as long as they stay in the competition.

I have to laugh at some of the comments in this thread. These people are at the top of their game.. They've had to work their socks off to get to where they are, and they have to remain in peak condition in order to stay there.

Yeah - I'd like to get paid £35000 for five months of 9-5pm of fairly unskilled work that thousands of others could do, but that's not what we're talking about.

They aren't all paid 35,000 grand, by the way. That is the maximum they can earn. They earn less if they're knocked out earlier.

Their wages must work out at a fairly miserly hourly rate.

A professional can work out choreography very quickly, it doesn't take long - they do this day, in day out as part of their job. Apart from 3 or 4 Pro's, I would not say that they are at the top of their game,- they are reasonable enough dancers - just lucky to have been invited to be a Pro on the show. I don't mean to sound rude, but its true.
"Top of their game" to me means World class.

This is very true too. The pros work really hard for the money, and no doubt get paid much less than the judges.

Which world are you living in?

Flavia, Vincent, Joanne Clifton and Iveta have all won world championships; Natalie was the Australian ballroom champion 4 times, Aljaž is 19-time Slovenian champion in Ballroom, Latin and Ten Dance, Kristina has been 1st or 2nd in national and World latin dance championships, and feel free to check up on the others. Even if they chose not to go down the competition route, the others by no means pale into insignificance in comparison.

In your opinion of course, but many millions of viewers switch on partly because of the four judges, various favourites of people here would not attract as many of the public to watch the programme.

I think all of them are also technically 'retired' they may have been at the top of their game but they're no longer 'good' enough to compete professionally and if it wasn't for Strictly they'd have to find work outside of competitions usually as a teaching or judging.

Entering and winning competitions is only one of a number of life-style choice's dancers might make, and winning them is generally seen to be a stepping stone onto full-time careers in performing.. Moving on from competitions is a natural progression and is in no way a sign that a dancer is past their best. Far from it!

Aside from the money debate, I'd like to see the BBC be better when it comes to telling the Pros they're no longer needed. Numerous times over the course of Strictly being around, I've read how some pros have come to their end, and thought it could easily have been done better and with more consideration. of course it's not nice to know you're not wanted or that someone else is being found for the place you held, but even for an average Jane liike me i'd expect some level of consideration and professionality in the way I'd be let go, especially if I'd done nothing wrong. Surely it can't be hard. Hayley Holt and Nicole Cutler spring to mind, but even the likes of Brian Fortuna, Matt Cutler, etc, prob could have left in nicer ways, where they didn't feel like they had been demoted in such fashion to the point they had to quit. More then anything, it seemed a lack of respect, rather than not being wanted anymore, was a main factor. I think we can all deal with being not wanted, as hard as it is, but the nature of your departure can make alot of difference.

I read a few years back a comment from some poster saying they were glad BBC was not yet like DWTS (US version) in the way it dumped on their Pros and just let go of people with little care and consideration, but I don't know if that can be said anymore. I think if a Pro has been good to the show and not been a pain in the backside, a good honest reason for why they are not wanted anymore should be the least any company (big or small) can do. I'm sure some pros have had that consideration (if they've been lucky), but over all the years of Strictly some haven't, and it seems a shame, not just for the Pros but for the BBC, which is loosing a level of love and some respect that never seemed as apparent as does today.

I agree. Sadly, consideration, kindness and gratitude are increasingly rare commodities nowadays.

I think the professionals should be paid a better fee, maybe 50-60K.