Arlene Phillips: 'I learnt to live with Strictly Come Dancing axe'

Arlene Phillips has said that she has come to "accept" her Strictly Come Dancing departure.

The 68-year-old claimed to be over her 2009 axing from the judging panel in favour of Alesha Dixon, but accepted that she will be "forever tangled up" with the show.

"I've come to accept it," she told the Daily Mail. "What's been a real surprise is the endless tweets, emails, comments on Facebook and in the street.

"I really thought it would have completely faded by now. But I realise I'll be forever tangled up with it in some way. It's a huge programme - a mega programme. I just live with it now."

Phillips explained that the pain of her Strictly exit had been diluted by the death of her agent and friend Michael Summerton, which occurred within 24 hours of her firing.

"It was so hard to separate the emotion because it came one after the other," she recalled. "My personal loss was greater than Strictly and my grieving went on and on. Strictly was actually floating up somewhere."

Phillips told Digital Spy earlier this year that she doesn't "want" or "need" to return to Strictly.

> 'Strictly' Len Goodman 'disappointed' by Arlene axe