Strictly star has ‘gone into hiding’ after devastating axe from show

Strictly Come Dancing pro Luba Mushtuk is ‘hiding’ away as she comes to terms with being dropped from the show.

Last week, it was reported that she was one of three professional dancers to not have their contracts renewed for the 2026 season, the other two being long-serving Spanish pro Gorka Marquez and relative newcomer Michelle Tsiakkas.

Since then, it’s been claimed that a ‘distraught’ Nadiya Bychkova has also been dropped, as well as Karen Hauer, who has been on the roster since 2012.

What’s more, Neil Jones and Nancy Xu are set to be ‘benched’ when the dance contest returns in autumn, meaning they won’t be given a celebrity partner, suggesting a whole host of new pros could be added to the lineup in the coming months.

And since she’s now navigating a major life shift and a new chapter without Strictly, Russian-British star Luba, 36, is reportedly refusing to take any calls.

‘Luba is absolutely devastated,’ said one source. ‘Strictly has been her life for years, and she genuinely believed she would be back.’

They added to the Express: ‘She’s basically in hiding right now. She’s not answering calls, not replying to messages – she just wants to process it privately.’

Luba’s axing, the insider added, ‘wasn’t about wrongdoing or performance’ but instead proof of the ‘brutal reality of TV’.

‘Producers refresh the cast, and sometimes people who’ve done nothing wrong get cut.’

Sadly for her, though, she was caught completely by surprise by the news, as she ‘thought she had more time’.

‘There was no long goodbye, no gradual transition, just a phone call telling her she wouldn’t be needed.’

Such claims echo previous rumours that Strictly bosses have been informing certain pros of their fate via ’15-minute calls’, even if they have ‘been on the show for years’.

A source told The Sun: ‘Once they’re axed, there is very little in the way of duty of care, and they are left to lick their wounds alone.’

They added that ‘many of them feel like the BBC has pulled the rug from under them, with no warning.’

Metro understands that the BBC has measures in place to support its stars, which were amplified further in 2024 after claims of physical and verbal bullying in the training room, and additional welfare staff were assigned to both celebs and pros.

Still, the news is hard to swallow, with Strictly viewers also expressing their outrage over fan favourites being dropped to shake things up.

For Luba in particular, she’s been part of the pro lineup since 2018, winning the Children in Need special that year with Shane Lynch.

Luba went on to compete in the Christmas episode four times, and while she has been benched on the main show on several occasions, her partners have been James Cracknell, Jason Bell, Adam Thomas, and Nick Knowles.

She’s never made the final, her longest stint being with Waterloo Road actor Adam in 2023, placing ninth.

And she’s far from the only Strictly icon whose name has landed on the chopping block, with four-time finalist Gorka, 35, having been a pro for 10 years, while Karen overtook Anton Du Beke as the longest-serving pro when he became a judge.

According to sources, higher-ups want a ‘fresh start’ for Strictly this year, which enters a new era with new hosts following Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s swan song in December.

And as a result, a mass cull of professionals has been executed ahead of ‘bringing in new faces’ to ‘create a new era’.

They’re also due to host ‘chemistry tests’ in April for a shortlist of potential new presenters. These include Alex Jones, Zoe Ball, Rylan Clark, Alison Hammond, and Angela Scanlon.

Although while we await anxiously for an official announcement, ‘it’s likely a decision won’t be decided until summer.’

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