The Stage

Bussell and Dixon join Strictly Come Dancing judging panel

Published Thursday 9 July 2009 at 14:29 by Matthew Hemley

Former Royal Ballet principal dancer Darcey Bussell is to join BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing as a guest judge, as part of an overhaul of the show which will also see Arlene Phillips leave.

Bussell will join the panel for the last three weeks of the show, sitting alongside regular judges Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman and Craig Revel Horwood.

However, Phillips, who has been part of the judging panel since the show started in 2004, has been dropped , and will be replaced by Alesha Dixon, who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2007.

Phillips will instead be joining the team of The One Show as a regular contributor.

Announcing the changes to the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing today, BBC1 controller Jay Hunt said the decision to drop Phillips, who is 66, had “absolutely not” had anything to do with her age.

She said the changes had been made as part of a desire to “refresh” the show in order to keep it interesting for viewers.

“What has happened with Strictly is about refreshing that brand and ensuring it remains as compelling for viewers as it always has been. Is it about ageism? Absolutely not. I am committed to reaching out to the broadest possible audience on the channel, and it would be perverse in the extreme if that saw us take off an array of different people of different ages and ethnicity. I am trying to achieve exactly the opposite,” she said.

Hunt said Dixon’s former champion status would “give a completely different flavour to the show”.

Speaking about Bussell she said: “Darcey has impeccable credentials as a dancer and, as a guest judge, she will bring an exciting new dimension to the last few weeks of the Strictly competition.”

Changes to the show were announced today at the launch of BBC1’s autumn schedule.

In drama, Hunt said she wanted to retain the “degree of ambition and breadth of appeal” that the channel had shown with recent commissions such as Occupation.

The autumn schedule includes a new series of Mistresses and Material Girl, which is set in the world of fashion.

Hunt described this as “guilty pleasure” viewing, aimed at a younger audience.

Other shows include Garrow’s Law and Paradox, a crime drama starring Tamzin Outhwaite.

Despite the BBC’s recent decision to drop Robin Hood after three series, the channel controller said the channel’s commitment to family drama “remains as strong as ever”, with a new series of Doctor Who and Merlin to be screened.

Meanwhile, in entertainment, Graham Norton’s chat show will come to BBC1 from BBC2.

Hunt admitted Norton’s latest show for BBC1, Totally Saturday, was not as “good as it should be”, but said she remained committed to Norton as a regular face on the channel.