Kicked Kat: Strictly Come Dancing axe stunning dancer Katya Virshilas whose partners included Gavin Henson, Phil Tufnell and Dan Lobb

Kicked Kat: Strictly Come Dancing axe stunning dancer Katya Virshilas whose partners included Gavin Henson, Phil Tufnell and Dan Lobb

The dancer partnered Daybreak host Dan Lobb on last year’s show and in previous series was paired up with rugby player Gavin Henson and former cricketer Phil Tufnell.

But she has fallen foul of new bosses who are ditching her to make way for a new face.

Lithuanian-born Katya is the main casualty of the shake-up. The other professional dancers have been told they will stay.

They include James Jordan who had a furious bust-up with judge Craig Revel Horwood. James and Craig fell out last year in a row over marking with the judge going on to snub the dancer by leaving him off the show’s live tour.

The professional dancers had to attend a meeting with the show’s new executive producers Glenn Coomber and Andrea Hamilton.

They were brought in last month to succeed Moira Ross who has moved to The Voice, a show which Andrea also worked on. Glenn has been executive producer of ITV1’s Dancing On Ice for the last two seasons.

An insider said: “Glen and Andrea wanted to meet the dancers and hear why they wanted to do this year’s show.

“They always knew they wanted to bring in fresh talent but it was about deciding who would have have to make way and they decided to give Katya the boot.

“She is not as high profile as some of the other female dancers, although it was a close call and it was nothing personal against her.

“Producers are excited about the new dancer, who they hope will shake up the show and keep the other professionals on their toes.

“All the other dancers are back, including James, who many thought might be axed because of his row with Craig.

“But producers want as much drama as possible this year and bringing James back to face Craig could provide that.”

A BBC spokeswoman last night confirmed Katya would not be back.

She said: “We’d like to thank Katya for her wonderful contribution to the show. She will very much remain part of the Strictly family.”

Other changes include the introduction of a new judge, ballerina Darcey Bussell. She replaces Alesha Dixon who defected to ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.