Brendan Cole's firing from 'Strictly Come Dancing' was reportedly brought on because of his "attitude".
Brendan Cole
The 41-year-old professional dancer revealed in an emotional interview on Tuesday (30.01.18) that the BBC Latin and ballroom dance competition had chosen not to renew his contract for the next series, and sources have now claimed that the star's "ego" had led him to believe he was "bigger than the show", which caused producers to let him go.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Brendan's ego and his attitude became too much to handle and in reality that's why he's gone. He brought it upon himself.
"He used to be lovely and charming, but by the last series he thought he was bigger than the show. Some of the junior staff were too frightened to even talk to him because they worried he'd bite their heads off.
"He's paid the price because nobody is bigger than the show."
The New Zealand-born dancer was known for his feisty tongue on the show, and admitted in his interview to having a "strong character", as he often liked to "argue with the judges".
He said: "It's going to be hard for me to watch but I'm a fan of the show and the show comes first. They've made the decision and I respect it completely - I don't like it very much - but I still want to support my friends. I'm a strong character in the show and they won't have that anymore. No one will argue with the judges."
Meanwhile, former head judge Len Goodman - who left the show in 2016 and was replaced the following year by Shirley Ballas - has dubbed Brendan "the bad boy of the ballroom", but admitted he was "sad" to hear he had been axed.
Len said: "I'm so sad. You can't say he didn't do a great job. He did and there was always a bit of an edge with him - the bad boy of ballroom. But there always has been egos with the professionals and it was the same when I danced, with anything competitive."
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