Question Time

Strictly Come Dancing star Carlos Gu opened up about his time on the show and whether he plans to return, following the recent exits of several of his co-stars

Carlos Gu has opened up about his future on Strictly Come Dancing amid a shake-up to the line-up. Since joining the show in 2022, the professional dancer has performed with three celebrity partners; Molly Rainford, Angela Scanlon and Karen Carney, who he lifted the Glitterball trophy with last year.

Reflecting on his transition from the competitive dance industry to television, he claimed it was “a completely different world” to what he’s been used to for the last 20 years.

Before Strictly, Carlos competed professional with Susan Sun, winning multiple competitions as a well-known duo.

Discussing the industry, the 33-year-old described it as “very challenging and hard”, but also “unstable” as he shed light on the realities of being a dancer.

“It doesn’t matter how hard you work or how good you are, you are the one always being judged and being chosen, your results are always unstable. You never know, today might be good but tomorrow might not,” he explained.

“We worked so hard for 20 years and we made our way there and everybody knows us, we come out, everyone knows Carlos and Susan.”

Reflecting on himself joining Strictly and not being given a celebrity partner in his first year, he added: “Then joining Strictly and not being given a partner made me realise I’m going back again to being chosen, because to have a partner or to not have a partner is out of my control, it doesn’t base on how good I am or how hard I am working, it’s not, it’s purely out of your control.

“I never worked in the TV world, it’s a completely different world,” he added.

Asked by Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast about his future on the show, Carlos admitted he was yet to know if he will be returning.

Addressing the news of some of his co-stars leaving the show, he said: “I know we’ve heard, we’ve all seen the news but nothing confirmed by the BBC yet, so we’re waiting. I think they’re going to make the final announcement for all the cast.

“But like I said, being in a position not knowing if you’re going to stay or not is scary. We work so hard in our lives, but those things are out of your hands.”

So far, Luba Mushtuk, Karen Hauer, Michelle Tsiakkas, Nadiya Bychkova have been given the boot from the show. Karen was the longest-standing female professional, who was a part of the show for 14 years.

In a statement announcing her exit, she told fans it was “the right time to close this chapter and take on new projects in other areas I’m passionate about”.

This comes after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman stepped away from their hosting duties after 11 years together on the main show.

Tom Skinner, an entrepreneur who was on The Apprentice in 2019, appeared on Question Time in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, which featured a debate about social media giants

TV personality Tom Skinner squirmed under interrogation from Fiona Bruce during a showdown about social media on Question Time.

The presenter of the topical debate programme accused Mr Skinner, 35, of being “part of the problem” amid the debate around the pros and cons of apps, such as TikTok and Instagram. The entrepreneur regularly posts videos to his 536,000 TikTok followers, including clips of him eating full English breakfasts at his favourite café. He told Question Time he also makes money by promoting products on Instagram, TikTok and other apps.

But Ms Bruce fronted him on his use of the platforms, suggesting he himself was actually playing into the challenges young people and their parents face with social media. Meta and Google were this week found liable for causing addiction in users in a landmark £2.2million legal case, which led to last night’s debate around how they government should help protect children from such addiction.

Addressing Mr Skinner, the host said: “As you said, you are benefiting from social media, you make part of your living that way and, part of the reason you are able to do so is because of the addictive algorithms that will push people towards yours (social media content)… It is giving you a platform, and job opportunities come your way because of it. In the nicest possible way, you are part of the problem.”

The remark led to a wry smile from Justice Minister Jake Richards, also on the panel in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. Dad-of-three Mr Skinner hesitated as he answered, eventually insisting his videos are harmless.

READ MORE: Calls mount for UK social media ban as Meta hit with ruling over ‘addictive’ appsREAD MORE: Parents across UK to get new powers to limit teenagers’ social media use under trial

Ms Bruce, presenter of the programme since 2019, said: “How can you on the one hand say ‘people shouldn’t be doing it so much’ but, on the other hand, you are benefiting from it?” It left the entrepreneur stuttering again, before he went on to stress the importance of the roles parents should play in protecting children.

“It’s bad. It’s bad when people sit on their phone all day. I’ve seen it myself. I’ve done it myself, I sometimes know I’ve got to be up in four hours and I’ve sat there and I’ve scrolled my brains through, watching absolute nonsense,” Mr Skinner, from Romford, east London, said.

Other panellists defended Mr Skinner, arguing his clips are innocent and “do not drive the worst of the algorithms”. The case this week heard Meta and Google both were negligent in the design or operation of their platforms — including the “infinite scroll” feature that was claimed to trigger addiction in users.

The jury also decided each company’s negligence was a major factor in causing harm to a 20-year-old woman, who says her use of social media as a child addicted her to the technology and worsened her mental health struggles.

Both firms have strongly rejected the verdict and plan to appeal. Meta said: “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options”. A spokesperson for Google added: “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”