STRICTLY Come Dancing favourite Dianne Buswell has teased the show’s latest “pro” after fans spotted a key clue on her Instagram page.
It comes as the series is in the midst of an ongoing scandal which saw her co-star Giovanni Pernice, 33, quit earlier this year.
The Italian is under investigation by the BBC over misconduct after complaints were filed by several of his former celebrity dance partners.
The same investigation also saw his fellow Italian professional Graziano Di Prima axed after allegations of “physical incidents” towards show partner Zara McDermott, 27.
Aussie Dianne, 35, has been busy keeping her fans up-to-date as the expert dancers returned to rehearsals for the BBC One series this week.
Dianne joined Strictly Come Dancing’s pro line-up back in 2017, with her first celebrity partner being the Reverend Richard Coles.
Yet, to date, she has sadly failed to scoop the iconic Glitterball trophy.
Despite this – she has “revealed” a new pro added to the mix – yet all is not what it seems.
Dianne took to her Instagram page to upload a gallery of images showing her having fun in rehearsals, with the caption: “It’s been a fun first week of year 8 at strictly school.”
One snap showed the Freeze The Fear contestant with her 2023 show partner and EastEnders actor, Bobby Brazier.
The pair were all smiles and, on her Instagram Stories, she uploaded a snap showing her with her arm around his shoulder and the words: “Friends forever.”
This prompted one fan to quiz: “Is Bobby coming back this season?”
Dianne then quipped: “New pro,” followed by a laughing Emoji face showing it was clearly a joke.
Her tongue in cheek comment left one viewer then urging Bobby to “confirm” the news.
Yet they will no doubt be disappointed when they learn it is banter.
Strictly Come Dancing's scandal has been growing over the past few months, with several major players speaking out about what went on. Here are the key moments of what's happened so far
16th May: Giovanni Pernice sensationally quits Strictly Come Dancing after nine years on the show.
17th May: Giovanni becomes the centre of an official investigation after three former partners – believed to be Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh – make complaints to the BBC.
16th June: Giovanni releases an official statement vowing to clear his name and denies any wrongdoing.
8th July: Strictly confirms Aljaz Skorjanec will return to the series, replacing Giovanni, after initially quitting the show two years ago.
10th July: Amanda Abbington launches fresh legal proceedings to get the rehearsal footage from her time with Giovanni, after allegedly he refused to release the videos.
13th July: Graziano Di Prima is axed from Strictly for “gross misconduct” after footage of his treatment of Zara McDermott is brought to the attention of the BBC.
Graziano quickly broke his silence, apologising for his behaviour in a statement and saying he “deeply regrets it”, adding his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected his training regime.”
15th July: Strictly bosses implement new duty of care protocols, including having a chaperone present throughout all rehearsals.
16th July: Zara McDermott speaks out publicly for first time. She states while the production team were “amazing to work with”, she found the rehearsal room “completely different”, confirming there’s footage of “certain situations”.
19th July: Anton Du Beke is put under the spotlight for his “1970s attitude” and treatment of female celeb stars, particularly after allegedly referring to 2009 partner Laila Rouass as a “p***” after getting a spray tan.
21st July: Paralympian Will Bayley, who has limb condition arthrogryposis, revealed he was encouraged to leap from a table during a dance routine, despite fears. The stunt caused an injury that forced him to withdraw from the show.
22nd July: MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace admits he broke down in tears and got a nasty stress rash on his face during his time on Strictly in 2014.
23rd July: Celebrity agent Melanie Blake claims she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed pro dancer while backstage on the show, and claims she witnessed ageism, rudeness and a rough treatment to the point of injury.
23rd July: BBC boss Tim Davie breaks his silence on the ongoing allegations against Strictly, saying he is ‘deeply sorry’, adding: “Hundreds of people, be they pros, contestants or crew have been part of it and had a brilliant experience.
“At the same time if someone thinks there was something wrong or they want to talk about their experience then of course we want them to raise that with us. Be in no doubt we will take it seriously, listen and deal with it as appropriate.”
Meanwhile, a host of Strictly’s former show professionals are also being drawn into the show scandal.
Last week, former Strictly pro Janette Manrara, 40, broke her silence on claims by her former celeb partner Will Bayley.
The mum of one spoke out after The Sun told how she is alleged to have branded one of the sports ace’s jump’s as “rubbish” before asking him to repeat the feat.
Former pro and now judge Anton Du Beke will also face a legal probe over a historic row with former celebrity partner Laila Rouass, 53, and what has been dubbed “1970s behaviour.”
Ex star Brendan Cole was also seen slapping his partner Fiona Phillips’ bum three times during rehearsals.
Last week, we reported on equally shocking footage of another former show professional, James Jordan, which saw him calling his dance partner “fat.”
His former Strictly co-star wife Ola hasn’t escaped unscathed either.
She has been accused of “bullying” and being “cold” towards former celebrity partner Steve Backshall.
Meanwhile, The Sun reported earlier this week how Strictly was in talks to hire chaperones for celebs while they are training for the series.
On Tuesday, the BBC gave more detail on their new duty of care and the drastic new measures to be implemented following the overhaul.
We also exclusively told how they had beefed up security for the professionals during rehearsals.
It came as dancers were “worried about the backlash” over the show’s bullying claims.
