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Strictly hit by furious backlash after show struggled to get female celebs to sign up after abuse scandals
STRICTLY Come Dancing has been hit by furious backlash from fans after struggling to sign female celebrities following the abuse scandals.
Last year professional dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima made sensational exits from the show after facing serious allegations from former show partners.
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The line-up for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing was revealed today - but eagle-eyed fans quickly noticed the lack of women.
Writing on social media, one said: 'Seeing full line up they really struggled getting women to agree then, outnumber 6/9.
'Even for the money, not worth the ordeal the series has become or damage to mental wellbeing.'
Another said: '9 men and only 6 women guessing they struggled to get female celebs to sign up again there's gonna be a lot of women pros on the bench.'
And a third added: '9 men / 6 women again? What is going on?'
The female stars taking part this year are Love Island winner Dani Dyer, former Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, EastEnders' Balvinder Sopal, model Ellie Goldstein, actress Alex Kingston and footballer Karen Carney.
They're joined by rugby player Chris Robshaw, footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, RuPaul's Drag Race star La Voix and YouTuber George Clarke.
Finishing the line-up are Neighbours legend Stefan Dennis, Gladiator Harry Aikines Aryeetey, former Apprentice candidate Tom Skinner, Good Morning Britain's Ross King and actor Kristian Nairn.
It's the second year running Strictly has reportedly struggled to attract female stars.
One TV executive told the Mail: "Usually it is the women who are more keen. Not only is it an opportunity to get dressed up but appearing on Strictly is also much more fortuitous for females' careers than men's.
"But word has got around that it isn't exactly a walk in the park, so getting them has a been a lot more challenging.
"There have been many conversations about how this is dealt with but the immediate problem is this year's cast... There has been lots of swearing and frustration."
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