Strictly Come Dancing professional dancers have allegedly been told to condemn Russia and Vladimir Putin, or 'never come back' to the BBC show.
Russian pro dancers Katya Jones and Luba Mushtuk are reportedly being urged by their colleagues on the ballroom dancing show to speak out against the horrifying invasion of Ukraine, or face being fired.
The two dancers, both 32, have so far stayed silent on the matter across social media leaving their co-stars to wonder how appropriate it is to keep Katya and Luba on the show, as told in The Sun.
The publication hints there may be a divide between the rest of the Strictly dancers as both Nikita Kuzmin and Nadiya Bychkova are from Ukraine, and have family in the war-torn country.
Nikita, 24, who was born in Kyiv, shared his relief with his social media followers after revealing he had been reunited with his elderly grandmother who fled Ukraine following the invasion.
Katya and Luba are being told to end their silence over Vladimir Putin's actions, as some dancers have reportedly told bosses they don't want them to return to the show.
A source told The Sun: “Some of the professionals feel it’s in bad taste to have them on the show.
“It’s been discussed among a group of them and they are concerned about it affecting the programme and causing a backlash.
“Given they’re on the biggest show on television they are already open to criticism and they worry that this would only invite controversy.
“Other parts of the industry are shunning Russians and it’s been suggested that Strictly does the same.
“There’s a feeling that it would not be appropriate for them to return.”
The insider added: “They’ve done nothing wrong and have been gutted by the scenes in Ukraine at the hands of their homeland.
“Some think they should not be punished for something entirely out of their control.”
This comes just days after former Strictly pro James Jordan slammed the Russian professionals on the show for not speaking out in defence of Ukraine.
“I don’t see many of the Russian dancers I know and have even shared the Strictly dance floor with them [sic] openly speaking out about the war against Ukraine. But [they] are still promoting themselves on social media – very disappointed,” he posted on Twitter.
“They know who they are – not 1 post about it,” he fired.
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