LOVE CURSED
Strictly curse strikes again as Nadiya Bychkova’s partner Tom Dean SPLITS from girlfriend
Tom became the first celebrity to be booted off with professional partner Nadiya
STRICTLY star Tom Dean has secretly split from his girlfriend Charlotte Phillips as the infamous show curse strikes again.
Olympian Tom, 24, called time on his romance weeks after he was axed from the BBC competition.
4
4
4
They had been dating for a year but the relationship "naturally run its course".
The swimmer became the first celebrity to be booted off with professional partner Nadiya Bychkova, 35.
They were brutally cut from the competition in week one when they faced Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones, who left the show a week later.
A source told Tom's split had nothing to do with his time on Stricty Come Dancing.
READ MORE ON STRICTLY
They claimed: "Like in so many breakups, Tom and Lottie's year-long relationship had naturally run its course and it has nothing to do with Strictly.
"It just happened to be in the first two weeks that they decided to part ways. They are still good friends and it's all amicable between them."
Tom's split comes midway through one of the most disastrous years in the contest’s history.
A bullying scandal involving Giovanni Pernice and Graziano DiPrima engulfed the series, with several major stars speaking out about what went on before the BBC came back with their findings.
Most read in News TV
And pro Katya Jones angered bosses by being at the centre of 'gropegate' with Wynne Evans.
Meanwhile, Nadiya and her Strictly star boyfriend Kai Widdrington also split up before the current series - and the Sun previously revealed backstage tension with them "refusing to stand next to each other."
Stricly Come Dancing stars who fell victim to show's curse
Now bosses are planning to axe some of the Strictly veteran pros after the drama around them eclipsed the show.
The Beeb wants to drop up to five of its most popular dancers, including Nadiya, Katya, Neil Jones, Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez.
CURSE GOING NOWHERE
The Strictly curse has cast a shadow over the series for years.
Tom and Charlotte are certainly not the only couple to have fallen victim to it.
During the very first series, Brendan Cole left his fellow Strictly professional fiancé, Camilla Dallerup in the spring of 2004.
He was said to have fallen for his celebrity partner and inaugural winner Natasha Kaplinsky, although the pair did not confirm they were romantically involved.
Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace were together off the screen until 2007.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
She waltzed off with her Strictly partner, Matt Di Angelo, who was just 20-years-old at the time.
One of the biggest scandals to engulf the show came in October 2018 when Seann Walsh was snapped locking lips with his dance partner Katya Jones.
4
Strictly Curse - The Lowdown
STRICTLY Come Dancing's latest series has already been hit by rumours of a BBC show 'curse' - yet what is it?
A host of Strictly Come Dancing stars have been struck by the Strictly Curse during the past two decades.
This is where celebrities who may or may not be attached in the outside world become more than friends with their professional partners.
A total of 20 relationships are said to have been impacted so far over the show's 20 years.
It has seen relationships crumble with dance floor romances and punishing rehearsal schedules to blame.
This includes the partnerships of Louise and Jamie Redknapp as well as Kevin Clifton and Karen Hauer.
Controversially, Judge Craig Revel Horwood once said of the curse: “I think of it as a blessing, to be honest. One person is married, the other one had a girlfriend but my point in this entire thing is: if you come on Strictly, sometimes you are in a relationship that is not working anyway.
“There has to be something wrong in your relationship before it all goes awry.”
Series one winner Brendan Cole left his fiancé, fellow Strictly professional Camilla Dallerup, during filming for the very first series in spring 2004.
Brendan was said to have fallen for his celebrity partner and inaugural winner Natasha Kaplinsky, although the duo didn’t confirm they were romantically involved.
Topics