Arlene Phillips has called for Craig Revel Horwood to get a pay rise on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The 75-year-old choreographer – who was a judge on the BBC ballroom show for the first six series until 2008 – believes her former fellow panellist’s pay packet should be boosted due to his "experience", after he claimed new head judge Shirley Ballas’ wages should’ve been "something lower".
When asked if she thinks Craig "has a point", Arlene said: "Well, I do think experience counts.
"If you’re on a show in the West End and you decide to stay on year after year after year you get a little increase every single years for the experience you’ve had.
"Often, when you go back to square one because you want to do a new show, you go back to everybody’s starting salary. Your age doesn’t carry weight.
"But I do feel for every year they’ve been there … probably about 15 years now, I was there for God knows how many years, they should rise every years. Absolutely."
Arlene believes Craig "deserves every penny" of his ‘Strictly’ wages, but admits it is "important" that women have parity if they are doing the same job.
Speaking on ‘Lorraine’, she added: "But it is important that women do get the same pay. Same job, same pay grade. Absolutely. But also for experience. Craig has been there for a long time and he deserves every penny."
Arlene’s comments come after Craig insisted he doesn’t think it’s "right" that Shirley – whose wages have reportedly been boosted from £180,000 to £250,000 recently, which is said to be more than Craig earns – should receive a huge sum, because she is a newcomer to the show.
He told The Sun newspaper: "The point about this pay thing is, yes, I think women should be paid the same as men. That’s for sure. But what would you say to a woman coming in after you’ve been in the job for 15 years when they’ve done absolutely nothing to earn it? I don’t think that’s right.
"For instance Shirley Ballas in that way, you’d expect she would start on something lower because she’s never been on TV before, the show’s been going for 14 years.
"Len Goodman earned a major reputation and put the show on the map like we all did. We all created it from the beginning. And I don’t think it’s comparable. Sorry. It just isn’t."
Arlene Phillips wants Strictly rise for Craig Revel Horwood
