I’m sure I speak for all my 10 million fellow Strictly fans when I say the news that one of the show’s star dancers, the exotic Italian stallion Graziano Di Prima, has been summarily sacked for ‘gross misconduct’ after ‘kicking, hitting and spitting at’ his celebrity partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals makes me want to smash the Glitterball.

How could this innocent, much-loved Saturday night sequin-fest – born 20 years ago – have come to this?

Exotic Italian stallion Graziano Di Prima has been sacked for ‘gross misconduct’ after ‘kicking, hitting and spitting at’ his celebrity partner Zara McDermott

The pair danced together in last year’s series and were eliminated on the sixth week

After all, the original twinkletoes host Bruce Forsyth promised us a show that would teach amateurs the beauty of ballroom and turn ugly ducklings into gliding swans.

Now it turns out that behind the glamour of the rhinestones and the magic of the dancefloor, ugly abuse was going on – and BBC bosses knew all about it.

After all, the original twinkletoes host Bruce Forsyth promised us a show that would teach amateurs the beauty of ballroom and turn ugly ducklings into gliding swans.

Now it turns out that behind the glamour of the rhinestones and the magic of the dancefloor, ugly abuse was going on – and BBC bosses knew all about it.

Swiftly? What an insult. They dismissed very serious red flags raised by fellow Strictly employees nine months ago, and Graziano was allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened.

Now the Beeb is dancing on the head of a pin as it tries to justify what to many appears to be a complete failure to protect contestants. And for what? To keep on board one of its most cherished dancers and preserve the fortunes of one of the jewels in its crown.

We mustn’t forget that Strictly is not only great box office for the Beeb, with its Saturday night audience eclipsing all rival TV programmes, but the Corporation has also made half a billion pounds from selling the format to broadcasters worldwide. Not to mention the small fortune it makes from the premium phone lines that viewers use to vote for their favourite dancers.

Strictly sources told the Mail they believe there was a ‘cover-up’ of Graziano’s behaviour, which ‘bosses hoped would save fan-favourite Di Prima from being ousted’.

And Graziano is not the only dancer whose behaviour has been called into question, of course.

The BBC is already conducting an internal inquiry into the behaviour of former star Strictly dancer Giovanni Pernice, who quit the show after accusations by actress Amanda Abbington that his training techniques ‘bullied her’, ‘bruised her toe’ and triggered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Accusations which Giovanni denies.

The tragedy for Strictly is that the Graziano scandal looks certain to set in train a long and humiliating legal process for the Beeb, much of which will be played out in public.

Abbington has hired a firm of top lawyers to fight her PTSD case and Pernice, in turn, has engaged his own top-flight legal eagles in a bid to prove his innocence.

More shameful still, the BBC’s internal inquiry into Di Prima’s behaviour – which will be conducted in secret despite the fact that we licence fee payers fund presenter Claudia Winkelman’s reported £180,000 fee, Tess Daly’s £150,000 and the many hundreds of thousands more spent on judges, professional dancers and celebrities – is not expected to conclude for a year.

What a disaster for Strictly and the BBC as they prepare to celebrate the show’s 20th anniversary. The costly litigation spawned by the Graziano scandal could rumble on for months, if not years, and generate an endless succession of lurid headlines.

But the BBC bosses who first turned a blind eye to abuse, then covered up this scandal, before summarily sacking Graziano to protect themselves, must be held to account, too.

What a sad birthday present for a much-loved show, produced by a TV company, which – hitherto – rightly and proudly claimed to be the world’s most trusted broadcaster.

Yes, Graziano had to go – but the heads of BBC and Strictly bosses who allegedly conspired in this sordid cover-up must also roll.