Brendan Cole lifts lid on 'secret' Strictly romances

Brendan Cole claims there are always plenty of love affairs on 'Strictly Come Dancing' and most of them "haven't been found out".

The 47-year-old dancer - who appeared in 15 series of the hit BBC talent show before leaving in 2018 - has insisted sparks often fly between the professionals and their celebrity partners and many of the flirtations turn into romance - but he's adamant most of them stay secret.

Speaking to The Sun, he explained: "Show me a series where there hasn’t been a little bit of love magic ... Generally, every year something happens between a dancer and a contestant ...

"I’ve been in series where five or six little love connections have been happening and most of them haven't been found out."

Brendan went on to insist romance between the dancing partners is to be expected because of the amount of time they spend together and the tactile nature of dancing.

He added: "In that particular environment, where you are hands on with each other 24/7, there’s a little of excitement between two people."

It comes after previous contestant HRVY declared the so-called 'Strictly' curse is "real". The 24-year-old music star - who appeared on the BBC show in 2020 - told Metro.co.uk: "I know it’s real. I’m not going to say any more than that, but as someone who’s done the show - I’m not saying that I’ve experienced it firsthand myself - but I may have seen … It’s definitely a real thing. "People talk about it and it’s like a bantering thing and I thought the same thing until I did it and then was like, ‘Wow, yeah.'"

HRVY - whose real name is Harvey Cantwell - even likened 'Strictly' to ITV dating show 'Love Island' He explained: "It could be the intimacy of dancing. It could be the fact that you’re with a group of people for weeks and weeks and weeks. "You could almost say it’s like 'Love Island' but you’re not on an island, you’re in a dance studio but it’s definitely real."