I feel for Brendan ..leaving the BBC is like getting a divorce by phone
Arlene Phillips on Strictly star’s sacking
Axed Brendan and pregnant wife Zoe Hobbs
In an exclusive interview Arlene recalled her own sacking and said Brendan would be going through the same experience.
TV favourite Brendan, 41 – a star on all 15 series of Strictly – announced last week that he had been fired by the BBC.
Arlene, 74, says TV chiefs didn’t even tell her she was being sacked in 2009 – and that she only found out via the radio.
Speaking at The Pure Package Wellness Awards at BAFTA on Thursday night, Arlene explained: “I message Brendan all the time and he calls me. It’s like a divorce, isn’t it? It happens, it’s divorce by phone, you get a phone call and suddenly it’s like ‘hello, my family’s gone’. I’m here and they are there.”
Arlene was 66 when she was replaced by former contestant Alesha Dixon, then 30, amid accusations of ageism at the Beeb.
She continued: “The BBC won’t change their mind. There was a big campaign to get me back but they have made their decision. The BBC will do what the BBC do. I understand what Brendan is going through. Suddenly you are dropped and all the big fish have swum away from you. The truth was that two days before it happened to me I had lost my closest friend and my manager. “When I came to London, aged 23, he was my friend and agent. He passed away and he had negotiated my contract. I wasn’t in a fit state to do anything. I was grieving.” When asked if the BBC supported her, she said: “No. The BBC didn’t even tell me (about her sacking). I found out from 5Live.” Brendan’s on-air row with head judge Shirley Ballas, 57, is said to be one of the reasons he was dropped. It is believed they also rowed backstage and they stopped talking completely when the show was off air. Despite getting the sack, Arlene reckons Brendan – expecting child No2 with wife Zoe Hobbs – will go from strength to strength. He is already being lined up to appear on ITV’S I’m A Celebrity. Arlene said: “He has the world at his feet. You pull yourself together and move on.” halina.watts@trinitymirror.com
You get a call and suddenly it’s ‘hello, my family’s gone. I’m here and they are there’ ARLENE PHILLIPS REVEALING WHAT IT’S LIKE TO GET BBC AXE