Strictly: Musical group claim they were dropped from It Takes Two after asking to be paid

Professional music group say they were offered ‘screen time’ and a ‘free lunch’ for appearing on show

A musical group have claimed that they were dropped from Strictly Come Dancing’s sister show after asking to be paid.

Amaraterra, a group of professional musicians who perform traditional southern Italian music, were asked to play on daily chat show It Takes Two while professional dancers Nadiya Bychkova and Graziano Di Prima performed.

However, band member Cassandre Balosso-Bardin told The Guardian that when they asked for a fee for taking part they were told that there “wasn’t money in the budget to pay for contributors”.

Instead, the group were promised a “free lunch” and “decent amount of screen time” in order to build their online following.

“Hopefully, when things return back to normal, and the arts is final[ly] restored, taking part in this [recording] for such a great show will be of benefit to you,” the group were told.

Amaraterra responded asking to be paid in line with the Musicians’ Union rates for session work, in addition to rehearsal time. Balosso-Bardin claims that they did not hear back from the BBC for several days and were later told that they would no longer be performing.

The musician told The Guardian: “The days of ‘It’ll give you exposure’ (something all musicians will be all too familiar with) are over. What exposure? For what?

“We won’t get any gigs these days and we won’t sell any albums as we have none to sell, not being able to afford its production. They want us and our expertise, but they won’t pay for it.”

A BBC spokesperson commented: “As we do with lots of artists, we discussed a proposed performance with Amaraterra for It Takes Two that ultimately didn’t happen for editorial reasons. Had they performed they would, of course, have been paid for their appearance.”

It Takes Two airs on BBC Two from Monday to Friday and sees hosts Zoe Ball and Rylan Clark-Neal interview the series’ contestants, judges and celebrity fans about the show.