Former Strictly Come Dancing star claims he was “stripped up” by the BBC show’s bosses while on the program, leading to his separation from his partner.
A former Strictly Come Dancing star has hit out at the BBC show bosses, claiming he felt ‘stitched up’ by the programme in a new shock rant.
Former Hollyoaks star Ricky Whittle, who competed on Strictly in 2009, and was partnered with professional dancer Natalie Lowe during his time on the show. The Calvin Valentine actor, 45, ended up become the show’s runner-up of the series, finishing in second place behind sports presenter Chris Hollins.
However, he has criticized the Strictly ballroom for 16 years, alleging that producers ‘manipulated’ a relationship between him and his 45-year-old dance partner Natalie.
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Ricky was dating Carly Stenson, who played Steph Cunningham on Hollyoaks while he was still a member of the cast. In the beginning stages of his career, Carly, 43, even provided support for Ricky while working for Strictly. However, their romance ended abruptly and appeared to fall foul of the alleged “Strictly curse” as they split in the early stages of the competition, allegedly because Ricky’s Australian dance partner Natalie had left Strictly in 2017.
Ricky has now criticised the program, saying that “the BBC totally screwed me up, they manipulated a romance, they fixed it so that we were the romantic couple.”
He continued, “They manipulated interviews in the VTs that were broadcast during the show.” I recall them asking me, “Was seeing her the best part of your day?” and other questions. or my compliments on how amazing she was, and how harmonious the music was when they were together.
“They knew what they were doing. Other couples were the ones who argued, but Natalie and I were the romantic couple.” The BBC declined to comment when contacted by the Mirror online.
Ricky relocated to the US in 2012 after spending time on the show. He currently resides in Los Angeles and has appeared in numerous movies and television shows, including the thriller Land of the Bad and Nappily Ever After on Netflix.
Meanwhile, Carley, Ricky’s ex-girlfriend, and Savage actor Danny Mac, Mark “Diddy,” fell in love. In 2017, the couple wed and have two children, Beauie Mac and Skye Bella, who were both born in 2021.
Carly revealed she wasn’t concerned about the dreaded Strictly curse with her then-fiance Danny after she and Danny first appeared on Strictly in 2016. She revealed that Danny had granted her permission to participate in the show.
He said, “Do you want me to do it, asks her,” she told The Sun. I told you, “I won’t do it if you don’t want me to,” and I replied, “Are you kidding? ” Do it! ‘
She explained, “I’m not really worried because the Ricky situation wasn’t that long ago.” He said, “He just knows we’re both very private, so he was like, This is going to catapult us a little bit,” so I was like, “No babe, do it.”
