The ' curse' is a famous pop culture phenomenon, with most able to pinpoint a celeb who caused a stir by waltzing off with their dance partner.
Yet many are unfamiliar with the other Strictly curse - that has seen a series of professional dancers fall on hard times after leaving the show.
The Strictly pros dedicate half their year to living and breathing Strictly mania, yet their short-term contracts mean they are always at risk of being unceremoniously dropped.
This week, it emerged that five of the show's beloved stars - , , Michelle Tsiakkas, , and Gorka Márquez - have been dropped from the lineup in a Strictly 'bloodbath'.
There are whispers that more dancers are also facing the axe, with the stars no doubt now frantically checking their finances in case they miss out on their Strictly salary, which is rumoured to be a flat rate between £35,000 and £50,000.
They will also no doubt be hoping to avoid the other Strictly curse that saw many of their former colleagues caught up in scandal.
So, who fell foul to the other Strictly curse?
Brendan Cole
Brendan Cole joined Strictly during its inaugural season in 2004 and remained a firm favourite on the dancefloor until his contract was not renewed in 2018 (pictured in 2016)
Brendan Cole joined Strictly during its inaugural season in 2004 and remained a firm favourite on the dancefloor until his contract was not renewed in 2018.
Sources told The Daily Mail that Brendan was sacked for creating negative press and for his on-air outbursts,' noting that 'no one is bigger than the show.'
The BBC said: 'We’d like to thank Brendan for being part of the show since the beginning - winner of the first series - and for the contribution he has made to its success. We wish him all the very best for the future.'
Brendan has made no secret of the fact he wanted to remain on the show, and since his axe he has formed a dance troupe with fellow former Strictly stars, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone, and Ian Waite.
Yet despite heading out on tour, it was revealed in September last year that he had failed to repay his creditors almost £100,000 following the collapse of his business.
The Latin and ballroom expert launched Brendan Cole Ltd while he was still making regular appearances on the BBC show in 2009.
But he agreed to put the venture, which listed its main purpose as 'amusement and recreation activities', into voluntary liquidation in November 2021 - shortly before appearing as a celebrity contestant on ITV show Dancing On Ice.
According to Companies House, the defunct dance company is no longer in operation and accounts made up to May 2021, six months before it liquidated, were overdue.
Brendan's company debts are said to include a £28,000 tax bill and a £50,000 Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan from HSBC bank, and liquidators believe his creditors will not get their money back.
'After taking into account asset realisations, together with fees and expenses, I think that it is unlikely that I will be able to make a distribution to any class of creditor,' they told The Sun.
According to statements released in 2022, the business owed £22,000 in corporation tax, £6,000 in PAYE and National Insurance contributions and £4,600, as well as £400 to accountants.
It's understood that the New Zealand born dancer has agreed to part with £1,000 a month to settle a £45,000 director’s loan that he took out of the struggling firm.
Brendan owned 70 percent of the business he launched at the height of his Strictly Come Dancing fame, while his wife Zoe owned the remaining thirty.
James Jordan
James Jordan made his debut on the BBC series in 2006 alongside his wife Ola. He quit in 2013, followed by Ola two years later (pictured together in 2011)
James Jordan made his debut on the BBC series in 2006 alongside his wife Ola. He quit in 2013, followed by Ola two years later.
He has been one of the most open stars since leaving the show, sharing details of his weight gain and loss, his daughter's health struggles, his father's stroke, his struggle to conceive with Ola, and his very candid thoughts about Strictly.
But the Kent-born dancer has also been embroiled in scandal, including being branded homophobic and misogynistic following his stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.
During his time on the show, the dancer clashed with Kim Woodburn, calling her a 'fat slob' and was accused of homophobia when he claimed co-star Austin Armacost is only used to 'playing with soft boys' during an intense argument.
The pair traded vicious insults after an erratic Austin encouraged bedmate Nicola McLean to put water in James's bed before kicking the dancer as he inspected his sheets.
James said sternly: 'Do not start playing with the rough boys, you're going to get hurt. You're used to playing with little soft boys, don't play with real boys.'
James has also accused Strictly of 'fixing' and also slammed the show for allowing same sex couples to dance together.
'Ballroom dancing is about a man dancing with a woman,' he said in 2015.
'If you're going to do a rumba you've got to make everyone believe you're in love with each other,' he declares. 'It's about passion between a man and a woman.
'The world's gone too politically correct. Take her [pointing at wife Ola].
'She's Polish. I go, "Bloody Polish, they're everywhere." I find it funny. I'm quite a joker. We always have banter with each other.'
James was dumped from the show in 2014, with the consensus being that he’d worn out his welcome after clashing with executive producer Louise Rainbow.
He also slammed judge Craig Revel Horwood as 'not a nice person,'.
Earlier this year, he was slammed by fans after making a 'sexist' comment about wife Ola on X (formerly Twitter).
The professional dancer took to social media to bemoan her skills around the house.
Writing: 'Hi guys Anyone know a decent ironing lady in the West Malling area – as my wife is s**t at it.'
Kristina Rihanoff
Kristina Rihanhoff joined the show in 2008, met her husband Ben Cohen when they were partnered up on the show in 2010 (pictured) then left Strictly in 2015
Kristina Rihanhoff earned herself the 'Siberian Siren' nickname when she joined the show in 2008, having enjoyed a fling with fellow professional Vincent Simone and a four-year relationship with boxing champion Joe Calzaghe.
She met her husband Ben Cohen when they were partnered up on the show in 2010.
Nothing went on at the time, they have strenuously insisted. The following year Ben ended his 13-year marriage to Abby Cohen and later struck up a romance with Kristina.
Kristina then left Strictly in 2015 and the following year she welcomed their daughter, Milena.
However, 10 years after she left the show, Kristina split from Ben, with Daily Mail told that severe financial difficulties they had experienced were believed to have been behind their split.
The extent of the couple's struggles were laid bare in unusual circumstances - during a court appearance in 2024 when professional dancer Kristina was caught driving without insurance.
Giving evidence during the case, England World Cup winning rugby star Ben admitted he had bungled the handling of their car insurance policy and told how he was 'fighting to save his relationship and home'.
The couple were left with crippling debts after they ploughed every penny they had into a yoga studio which plunged into crisis during the Covid pandemic.
When questioned about the strains on his relationship, Ben told the court: 'We're still living together. We're in it financially.
'We're in business together so the problem is that we opened the business before Covid and we got the worst severities of it and in all honesty this is just another problem for me to deal with.
'I've got credit cards that are overdrawn. I'm overdrawn in both accounts. We have got a business debt because of Covid. It's just another problem.'
The couple started Soo Yoga Group together in June 2017 - four years after falling for each other when they partnered on the 11th series of the hit BBC show.
Companies House records showed that the Soo Yoga Group Ltd was £488,470 in the red in its last submitted set of accounts for the year ending on July 31, 2022.
The company was facing being struck off and Ben has since resigned as a director leaving Kristina as its sole director - while other companies linked to the couple were also in difficulties.
It was not long before the couple had put their £1.75million five-bedroom home in Sywell, Northamptonshire, where they had lived since 2016 on the market.
The couple revealed the irony of how they set off full of hope on a project to improve health and wellbeing only to be plunged into a crisis which left them facing losing everything and damaging their mental health.
Russian-born Kristina had worked hard to retrain as a yoga instructor. But the couple were forced to close their seven-studio yoga centre when the pandemic struck just nine months after opening.
The studio offered dance, meditation and Pilates classes while Cohen taught high intensity training.
Kristina told MailOnline in 2021: 'The company is a new company we'd just set it up. We invested everything we've ever had.
'It was awful. I put everything into it and you don't even have a chance to develop the business.
'We opened in August after the first lockdown and had a huge spike. It's a family orientated centre. Then November lockdown, December it was awful because we didn't know the end of it. It was forever and ever and ever. Fingers crossed we can go back to normality soon.'
She spoke of struggles with depression which has 'skyrocketed through the lockdowns' and admitted they struggled.
At that point the couple were able to temporarily run outdoor classes on tennis courts in Northampton but told of their plans to expand the business into a nationwide venture - hoping to emulate the success of David Lloyd's sports club empire.
Ben said: 'Yes it's great being outside and doing stuff but it shouldn't be at that point - we haven't earned a penny.'
He told how it was 'tough to run a business' but said of his hopes: 'Essentially we want to do what David Lloyd did. Everyone thought he was crazy. David has been helping us with this too. We want to grow this across the country.'
Despite their financial hardships, Ben and Kristina were said to have rekindled their romance in September last year.
Artem Chigvintsev
Artem Chigvintsev joined Strictly in 2010 and is one of only four dancers (Brendan Cole, Darren Bennett and Aljaž Škorjanec) to win the show on his first season
Artem left in Strictly in 2014 to appear on the US version of the show, Dancing With The Stars. During his time on DWTS he was partnered with WWE star Nikki Bella who he wed (pictured)
Artem Chigvintsev joined Strictly in 2010 and is one of only four dancers (Brendan Cole, Darren Bennett and Aljaž Škorjanec) to win the show on his first season.
After lifting the Glitterball Trophy with Kara Tointon he remained on the show for three more seasons, leaving in 2014 to appear on the US version of the show, Dancing With The Stars.
During his time on DWTS he was partnered with WWE star Nikki Bella, with the pair welcoming a son, Matteo, and getting married in 2022.
In 2024, Artem made headlines when he was arrested in Yountville, California in connection with domestic violence, but prosecutors in Napa County ultimately decided against filing criminal charges in the case.
Nikki later filed for divorce and unsuccessfully requested sole custody of their son, with the pair granted temporary restraining orders against each other.
Three months after his arrest, Artem claimed he lost out on $100k in income.
In legal documents obtained by Daily Mail, Artem - claimed the trauma of the arrest and false allegations led to him losing substantial income.
The documents read: 'It is not true that I have not been able to find other work as a dancer. I normally start jobs in November and it goes for 20 weekends.
'After the mug shot and the arrest based on her false allegations, I was taken off the website faculty list resulting in loss of over $100k in income.
'I also lost the social media promotion revenue, which she continues to benefit from as she was more worried about her career when she lied to the police, than mine.'
In May last year, Nikki opened up about their , revealing she was forced to shell out $200,000 of her 'hard-earned money' in spousal support to Artem.
Nikki was also ordered to pay $3,500 a month in child support for their son.
Robin Windsor
The dance world was rocked in February 2024 by the tragic death of Robin Windsor. Robin, who featured in four series from 2010 and 2013, took an overdose (pictured in 2012)
The dance world was rocked in February 2024 by the tragic death of Robin Windsor.
Robin, who featured in four series from 2010 and 2013, took an overdose while staying at The Hoxton Hotel in Shepherd's Bush, west London.
An inquest jury were told he left a suicide note saying the BBC 'destroyed me' after he was dropped from the show, with the jury concluding that Robin was 'vulnerable to rejection both emotionally and professionally'.
Robin's body was discovered by a receptionist after he failed to check out of his room – with police later finding two suicide messages.
The first, to a friend, said: 'This all really started when I lost my job on Strictly. The way they treated me destroyed me. It started me on the road I'm still on. All I wanted from life was to be happy. I loved my job more than anyone else.'
He went on to say he was permanently in a 'dark place' and couldn't go on 'living like this any more'.
Robin's second note, to his ex-partner actor Ollie Augustin, said: 'I need you to understand that this is not your fault.'
At an inquest in February, the forewoman gave the jury's findings, saying: 'We, having listened to all given evidence, have determined that Robin Jamie Windsor completed suicide by ingestion of ethanol and GBH on February 19 2024 in Room 424 at The Hoxton Hotel.
'We agree that the probable causes are an accumulation of many attributes to depression. Robin Jamie Windsor suffered from childhood trauma, he was vulnerable to rejection both emotionally and professionally.
'We also agree that loneliness, the lack of emotional maturity, the pressure of mounting debts, the lack of consistent mental healthcare and support, and reoccurring heartache are all contributing factors of Robin Jamie Windsor's mental health deterioration which in turn led him to take his own life.'
The court heard how after four years on Strictly, Robin missed the 2014 series while he recovered from a back injury, which resulted in him needing surgery to remove a disc.
He was then one of three stars dropped in 2015 when show bosses chose to refresh the line-up.
Friends said he 'slipped deeper and deeper into endless depression' and that his 'obsession' for the show was clear even years later.
Dr van Dellen also read parts of a written statement by X Factor star and Windsor's ex-boyfriend Marcus Collins, who said Windsor's mental health had deteriorated when he was released from his contract with Strictly.
'The day that he was informed that he was no longer required for Strictly really broke his spirit,' Marcus said. 'I will never forget it as we were on holiday in New York and he was inconsolable.
'Robin's mental health was challenged almost constantly from this point and at times it altered his personality.'
Windsor partnered Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley in 2012 plus actress Patsy Kensit, 57, EastEnders legend Anita Dobson , 76, and Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden, 67, during his time on the BBC One show.
A BBC spokesperson said: 'Our sympathies are with Robin's family, friends, and all who knew him. The whole of the Strictly Come Dancing family remain deeply saddened by his passing. Robin was a much loved member of the team - both on and off air - during his time on the show.
'As the inquest has heard this week and the jury concluded, several complex factors contributed to how Robin felt at the time of his tragic death and our thoughts remain with all who knew and loved Robin.'
AJ Pritchard
AJ Pritchard appeared on Strictly from 2016 to 2019, quitting the show so that he could 'follow his dreams' of presenting television programmes with his brother, reality TV star Curtis
AJ Pritchard appeared on Strictly from 2016 to 2019, quitting the show so that he could 'follow his dreams' of presenting television programmes with his brother, reality TV star Curtis.
Yet the presenting career did not come to fruition, with AJ instead making a series of reality TV stints and a widely panned cameo in Hollyoaks with his brother.
AJ had been making money on a dance tour with Curtis but revealed he was thrown into debt during the pandemic because their tour was instantly stopped.
Speaking to Daily Mail, AJ explained that working as a dancer is a 'rollercoaster' because the next job is never guaranteed and shared his frustration at people 'assuming you're a millionaire'.
He said in Janurary: 'We had a company where we were running our own tour and the tour was cut short. We paid all of our dancers because, personally, I felt like that was the right thing to do. We ended up with a bill which came out of our own pocket.
'We didn't get paid, myself or Curtis, but we paid all of our dancers. It's a hard decision to be made, but that's what it is when you are running your own company.
'They definitely did appreciate it. I maybe didn't appreciate the debt that I was left in but, hey, it's a decision that was made.'
AJ added: 'I think a lot of people expect you to go on to Strictly or Love Island and instantly be a millionaire. Once you've paid your tax and your VAT, and if you're a limited company, that's not even close.
'I think transparency is a positive thing in this day and age, but most people don't really want to talk about their finances.
'And I think people are intrigued by money. People love to see numbers and love to see nice things, and a lot of times you need to live within your own means.'
Cameron Lombard
Cameron Lombard's appearance on Strictly was fleeting, appearing on the show in 2020 and 2021 as an ensemble dancer after not being given a celebrity partner
Cameron Lombard's appearance on Strictly was fleeting, appearing on the show in 2020 and 2021 as an ensemble dancer after not being given a celebrity partner.
He left the show after his second season claiming he was moving on to other 'exciting opportunities'.
However, Cameron later stated that he was axed from the show and as a result battled a 'deep depression'.
In an Instagram post, Cameron penned: 'A year ago, my world shifted when I didn't make the Come Dancing lineup. What followed was a battle with deep depression, trying to fill the emptiness that success once occupied.
'But in that darkness, I found my true strength. Setbacks don’t break us—they shape us. With the unwavering love and support from my wife, my incredible family and a fire inside me that will never die, I’m entering a new chapter.
'Moving to Miami isn’t just a move - it’s a rebirth. Here, I will not just dance; I will create, inspire, and leave a mark that can’t be erased.
'To those who believed in me, you were my anchor. To the doubters, you make me laugh on the toughest of nights.
'This journey has tested me, but every fall has only made me rise higher. This is more than a personal triumph; it is a celebration of resilience, of the human spirit’s capacity to overcome.
'It is proof that when we fall, we can rise again, stronger and more determined. My journey has been one of highs and lows, but every step has led me to this moment. A moment filled with possibility, with life, with passion The best is yet to come—not just for me, but for anyone who’s ever been knocked down.
'We rise, We conquer, and We thrive. Together, let’s dance through life with passion, resilience, and an unyielding belief in our dreams.
'This is what it takes, to Get it all, Lose it all and Get it all back and that’s the s**t only I can feel. They Forget That I’ve Been Anointed & Prayed For & God Will Forever Be The Greatest In My Story !!'
And what will become of the freshly-axed stars?
Nadiya Bychkova may have been acrimoniously booted off Strictly Come Dancing - but she’ll be hoping for the last laugh with some secret celeb projects lined up
Luba Mushtuk’s firm Lubamore Ltd has just £21,264 in reserves. She was on the show for eight years before she was axed
Michelle Tsiakkas, who’s only been on the show since 2022, hasn’t yet filed any accounts for MTS Entertainment Ltd, which appears to have been set up for her Strictly success
Gorka Marquez set up one firm G-Fitness & Health Ltd in January 2021 - but voluntarily struck the firm off two years later without ever submitting accounts
Strictly stalwart Karen Hauer ran a company called Principal Dancers Ltd with her ex-husband Kevin Clifton. This has £110,926 in reserves, but owes £58,706 to creditors
