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Inside the battle to save Strictly: Revolting slur that's caused 'terrible fear' over contestants' behaviour exposed by KATIE HIND - as insiders leak list of who bosses are desperate to sign up
As Strictly bosses are all too painfully aware, the past two series have been blemished by scandals which overshadowed a series regarded by the whole BBC as the jewel in its crown.
Then this weekend, just when they didn’t think things could get any worse, BBC chiefs were made aware of a disgraceful video obtained by The Sun in which Jamie Borthwick, a contestant from last year – and, more embarrassingly for the Beeb, an actor on their flagship soap EastEnders – uses a slur against disabled people. Borthwick apologised profusely on Saturday night, saying in a statement: ‘It’s no excuse, but I did not fully understand the derogatory term I used and its meaning.’ But he was suspended from EastEnders while corporation bosses investigate. Fox is said to be keen to find ‘clean-cut and wholesome’ contestants and I’m told that two celebrities currently in contention are Blue Peter presenters Joel Mawhinney and Shini Muthukrishnan.
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