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HUNKY HOOFER LETS RIP
Gleb Savchenko says ‘tired’ Strictly needs crazier celebrities, same sex-couples and should pay their dancers TRIPLE
STRICTLY star Gleb Savchenko has branded the show a “turn off” that is being dragged down by demoralised pro dancers and a tired format.
The Russian, 34, says stuffy chiefs need to shake things up by introducing same-sex couples and tripling the pros’ wages.
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He says they should also bring back Brendan Cole, mic-up couples so viewers can earwig on potential love affairs and get crazier celebs.
Gleb, who competed in the BBC1 show in 2015 before leaving to focus on the US version, Dancing With The Stars, is being wooed back by bosses and says he is “open” to the idea.
But in a very revealing interview with The Sun, Gleb said: “Strictly is not as exciting as it could be. It’s more conservative than in the US.
“When I was on, if you have a crazy idea they’re like, ‘Let’s bring it down a little bit’.
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“Strictly is more reserved. On Dancing With The Stars, when you announce the winner everyone rushes in, picks up the winner, there’s fireworks, no one pays attention to the host — everyone’s celebrating.
“Here, first of all they only announce the winner. No one knows who’s got second place or third place. That’s a total turn-off.
“I just did 13 weeks of a competition, I got into the final, I want to know what place I got and my celebrity wants to know how well they did, so it sucks.
“And when they announce the winner everyone just stands there and waits for Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly to talk to you.
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“Here everything is very happy, whereas in America, the more dramatic your celebrity and the crazier life story they have, the better.”
Gleb also believes Strictly’s pro dancers are woefully underpaid.
While judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Darcey Bussell get at least £110,000 each per series, the pros take home little more than a quarter of that for their efforts.
He believes this leaves the dancers not caring enough about the show.
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Gleb said: “They should pay more to dancers. They don’t get paid enough. They should triple it. The amount of work we do is unreal.
“If they would do that, they would see the dancers actually start caring.
“You want to work harder when you know you’re going to make money.”
He also thinks it is high time to allow same-sex couples.
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The dancer, who is married to fellow dancer Elena Samodanova, 33 — sometimes seen with him in steamy snaps on his Instagram page — said: “Producers are just scared to try new things and go in that direction. It should have been done a long time ago.
“I would love to see same-sex couples. It would be amazing, it would be huge entertainment. We have same sex couples competing in real dance championships and they do it so well. To see the energy and the chemistry and the vibe in the rehearsal room of two guys — imagine you put Anton Du Beke with a guy. I would really want to see that.”
And Gleb, who danced with TV presenter Anita Rani, 40, on 2015’s show, would have no qualms about being paired with a male celeb.
He said: “If he’s super cute and light and could dance, I would totally do it. We would kill it.
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“I just need a great person who’s easy to work with and really wants to be in the competition, not just publicity. People will be like, ‘Oh my God, they’re so great together’.
“I’m very open-minded and I wouldn’t mind doing it. I don’t give a f*** about what people think of me and what I do.”
And even though the axing of Brendan Cole, 41, in January, after 13 years on the programme, has opened the door for Gleb’s potential return, the Russian thinks it was a terrible mistake.
He said: “I love Brendan. He’s a great guy and a great dancer. He always did a really good job.
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“I really enjoyed watching him and he’s got a personality —he’s the first bad boy on Strictly.
“It does take time for the audience to fall in love with you, start voting for you and supporting you and people loved him. He’s the original Strictly pro. I would keep Brendan on the show.”
But he admitted that the New Zealander sealed his own fate by failing to keep his ego in check.
He said: “Brendan does have a strong opinion on things and I think it’s good, but it’s the nature of the beast that you’ve got to work as a team player with other people.
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“You have to put yourself in the position where you’re open to ideas. You have to be flexible.”
Gleb has kept in touch with his pals from Strictly and probed them for the lowdown on Kevin and Karen Clifton’s marriage split after The Sun the two pros been struck by the show’s infamous curse.
He said: “They were always great together. They loved each other, but Karen is a really strong woman.
“Sometimes she was like, ‘Kevin, come here’. Maybe he was just too tired of that.
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Meanwhile Gleb thinks couples who give in to the Strictly curse and have affairs should be named and shamed on the show itself — another bold twist to add drama.
He said: “On Dancing With The Stars everything is mic-ed. Let’s say there is a Strictly curse and someone is trying to hide and have a conversation about how much they’re in love when they have husbands and wives and all that — on Dancing With The Stars they will hear everything.
“That would be great on Strictly. And there’s hidden cameras all around the ballroom, nowhere to hide. Get a room.”
But one relationship that will never fall victim to the curse is his own with wife Elena, a former judge on the Russian version of Strictly, and mum of their daughters, Olivia, seven, and eight-month-old Zlata.
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Indeed the pair, who have just opened a children’s dance studio in Los Angeles where they are based, are even planning their own reality show away from the dancefloor.
But Gleb claims this loved-up marriage does not stop his celebrity partners hoping he can be led astray.
He said: “All my partners when they come on the show they’re hoping for the Strictly curse.”
- Get Gleb’s 2018 calendar at .
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