Strictly’s Arlene Phillips makes heartbreaking death confession after loss

Arlene Phillips opened up about her early struggles in life.

Arlene Phillips is a legend in the world of Strictly Come Dancing, but the glitz and the glamour of her life was a far stretch from what it was like growing up at home. The legendary dancer, 82, found her way into the world of showbiz quite young, before building on her career on the dance floor and ultimately becoming a judge on Strictly Come Dancing when it first launched 21 years ago.

Arlene puts her success down to the determination she felt due to her humble beginnings, following a challenging period during her teen years. Speaking to at the Women Arlene said: “This event means so much to me, it shows powerful women building their legacy, they’re all incredible.” When asked about her own legacy, Arlene responded: “I think about how this girl, from a very, very poor family from Manchester, could dream of having the life I had. I look for every open door, I always have, I think [my upbringing] powered my determination.”

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Arlene said her upbringing powered her determination.

Arlene reflected on the devastating loss she faced as a teen too, admitting that it also contributed to powering her focus and determination. She said: “After a major loss in my life, losing my mother when I was 15, it woke me up. I thought, how am I going to grow up? How am I going to be a mother? But I knew I had to focus on moving forward, not looking back.”

Following the death of her mum, Arlene stayed in her family home where she received a grant from the local council to continue studying dance in Manchester and later become a teacher.

This then powered her decision to move to London in her early twenties where she became an established dance teacher and ultimately created her dance group Hot Gossip; following the success of the group, Arlene became one of the most in-demand choreographers and went on to work on music videos for the likes of Whitney Houston and Elton John.

She later become a judge on BBC’s So You Think You Can Dance, before taking on a major role in the original line-up of Strictly in 2004.

When the show first launched, Arlene was joined by her fellow hosts Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and, of course, the legend that was Len Goodman.

At the time the show was hosted by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly, and quickly became a family-favourite Saturday night show that had millions of viewers tuning in every week.

Arlene left the show in 2009 after her contract was not renewed by the BBC, she was replaced at the time by former winner Alesha Dixon.

Since leaving the show she has continued to choreograph performances including musicals such as The Wizard of Oz in 2011; she also appeared on I’m A Celebrity and appeared as a guest judge on Dancing on Ice in 2022.