It's often said that the stars of Strictly Come Dancing are more like family.
But with any family comes plenty of drama, and it's no exception for the professional dancers who dedicate months of their lives to transforming ungainly celebrities into graceful ballroom performers.
Throughout the show's 18-year run, there have been feuds, fall-outs, jealousies, divorces and bitter love triangles backstage on the show.
Here, The Mirror explores the dramas, tensions and betrayals that go on between the pros when the glitterball stops spinning...
Gorka Marquez vs Kevin Clifton
Tensions mounted between Gorka and Kevin after the former wasn't given a celebrity partner in 2019.
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And Gorka was even more miffed when Kevin Clifton was drafted in to partner Alex Scott after her pro partner, Neil Jones, injured himself in training.
Especially as Kevin had already had a partner in the form of Anneka Rice, who got eliminated in the second week.
Making his feelings known, Gorka retweeted a series of angry fan messages including one that read, "Gorka deserved it not Kevin who already had a partner this year."
"Should have be Gorks not King Kev," read another.
Rumours of a simmering beef between the two dancers first surfaced that August when Kevin ignored Gorka's 'demotion' but sent messages of comfort to their co-star Graziano, who was in the same boat.
Referencing his sister Joanna Clifton, Kevin tweeted his support to Graziano, writing, "Mate, my sister was the same in her second series.
"In her third series she won! You're one of the best dancers I know so get ready to OWN 2020!"
But when Gorka tweeted about his own lack of partner, fans noticed there was radio silence from Kevin.
Secret lovers
Romance rumours flew for Giovanni Pernice and Jowita Przystal during the last season of Strictly, with the pair reportedly spotted snogging backstage.
A source told the Sun: "She and Gio are the worst kept secret, but make a great couple."
They added: "While they both kept insisting they were single, the pair's chemistry was ridiculous - and they kept getting busted snogging in corridors."
The source said that Jowita especially wanted to keeping their romance on the down-low so she could focus on her celebrity partner Hamza Yassin.
They finally went public at a birthday party for Chelsea footballer Jorghino, who is a friend of Giovanni's, and have been spotted on a slew of dates since.
'Bitter jealousies'
Bad blood is said to have flowed between Strictly Come Dancing stars Katya Jones and Nadiya Bychkova on the Strictly live tour earlier this year.
It was claimed that 33-year-old fan favourite Katya was 'struggling' after the attention shifted to Nadiya, also 33, and her romance with fellow pro, Kai Widdrington.
Katya was once rarely out of the headlines thanks to her infamous snog with celeb partner Seann Walsh and the subsequent collapse of her marriage to pro dancer Neil Jones.
A source told The Sun: "Katya is used to being the one everyone is talking about on the show and has been struggling a bit this year.
"Nadiya has become the hot topic this tour, leaving Katya telling pals she is a bit jealous."
The 'unexpected millionaire'
Carlos Gu joined the show this year and is currently partnered with hopeful Mollie Rainford.
The 28-year-old is the holder of the title for the Chinese National Dance Champion as well as being a multi-world semi-finalist.
He also came third in the German Open Championship and was the UK’s Amateur Latin Rising Star Runner Up in 2017.
Each year the dancers are believed to earn a flat fee of between £25,000 and £50,000.
But that's pocket change for Carlos, who is believed to be worth a staggering £2.7million.
Shocking love split
The Strictly Curse was born back in series one when Brendan Cole and fellow pro Camilla ended their engagement amid rumours he and celebrity partner Natasha Kaplinsky had grown close.
Newsreader Natasha and Brendan both denied having an affair, while Camilla - who was paired with antiques expert David Dickinson - described the 2004 split as a 'mini-death'.
Then in 2018 Brendan broke his silence, hinting that he did get involved with Natasha - but only once his marriage was over.
"I've never talked about what relationship Natasha and I had on the show. What I did learn is that Strictly is not reality. It's a television show where emotions are very much heightened," he told the Daily Mail.
"I didn't cross any lines with Natasha. I was single. Camilla had ended the relationship very early on in the series so what happened happened after that.
"It was a harrowing time - winning the show as much as my friendship with Natasha. On the other hand it was like, Holy Moses. It can ruin a marriage so easily."
Giovanni Pernice and Luba Mushtuk
Pro dancer Giovanni and Strictly choreographer and backing dancer Luba are believed to hooked up after years of friendship in November 2017.
But during that time she was said to have been deeply jealous of his friendship with celebrity partner Debbie McGee.
"Luba and Giovanni are together. But she doesn't like Debbie because of their bond - she feels how much Gio cares for her," a source told The Sun.
"She assists with choreography. But that means she has to spend a lot of time watching Giovanni rehearse with Debbie which can be uncomfortable for her.
"It's also upsetting as she would like their romance to be out in the open. Luba is very keen to be on the show one day."
But by the end of the year it was all over and he moved on with TOWIE's Jess Wright before hooking up with 2018 contestant, Ashley Roberts.
Who is your favourite professional dancer on Strictly? Share your thoughts in the comments section below...
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