Steve Backshall’s Strictly ordeal that left him 'flat' and shattered his confidence

Steve Backshall opened up about his Strictly Come Dancing ordeal that shattered his confidence.

The hardened explorer and presenter, 51, opened up about his ordeal with his professional partner Ola Jordan back in 2014 claiming she "bullied" him.

Steve, who has dived with killer sharks and wrestled poisonous snakes, had lodged a complaint to BBC about the gruelling practice sessions.

His claims emerged as the show faced a string of abuse scandals earlier this year and again with stand-up comedian Chris McCausland win of the 2024 series this weekend dividing fans.

In Steve's case, the programme's bosses were forced to step in after he alleged that Ola had dented his confidence with her "rude and impatient" manner.

A source told Daily Mail at the time: "Steve is a very bouncy personality, up for any challenge, but Ola's harsh treatment has flattened him and made him lose confidence.

They added: "Her choreography and tuition was so tough, Steve resorted to asking other people to show him what he had to do." Bosses then called Ola in for a meeting and agreed that she and Steve would be accompanied at all times while they remained in the competition.

At the time, Steve told the Daily Mail he was unable to point the toes of his left foot because his ankle was fused in a near-fatal climbing accident in 2008.

"It has absolutely broken me," he said. "You are training all day long on hard wooden floors wearing dance shoes that have no give in them at all, and no cushioning. The impact travels straight all the way through my body and I'm just falling apart."

At the time Ola's husband shared his fury via a retweeted post, The Mirror reported, in which a fan fumed: "Smells of a plot to turn public against her so they can sack her, no one will fall for it."

The resurfaced incident isn't the only clash issue the BBC has had to deal with over the years. Graziano Di Prima was sacked from BBC Strictly Come Dancing before the latest series after bosses were shown shocking footage of him clashing with dance partner Zara McDermott.

Meanwhile, Chris McCausland made Strictly Come Dancing history after becoming the first visually impaired contestant to lift the Glitterball trophy.

Chris, 47, broke down in tears when he was announced as the BBC show champion on Saturday night (December 14).

Former Strictly pro Brendan Cole, 48, shared his thoughts following the win alongside his dance partner Dianne Buswell, 35.

Speaking exclusively to Express Online on behalf of Sky Vegas, he admitted, along with many viewers, to being "surprised" Chris was crowned the Strictly winner.

“I was, to a point, surprised to see him [Chris McCausland] win, because the dancing was pretty average – and generally people do want a good dancer to win," Brendan explained.

"I thought they're probably going to push it in JB [Gill’s ] direction, because that's the way the judges have seemed to want it to go throughout the series. I wouldn’t agree with that however, as for me, it had to be Tasha [Ghouri] or Chris [McCausland]."