Strictly's Katya Virshilas ties the knot

Strictly's Katya Virshilas ties the knot
Strictly's Katya Virshilas ties the knot

TV ballroom star Katya Virshilas puts her Strictly disappointment behind her as she celebrates her wedding with show pals. The Lithuanian-born dancer, 28, tied the knot in a French chateau with many of her Strictly Come Dancing pals, just weeks after she was dropped from the show. And in an interview with Hello! magazine - which covered the wedding - she said that after the surprise of being dropped from the BBC1 programme, she may take her talents in another direction. Katya, who partnered Daybreak's Dan Lobb (pictured) on last year's series, said: "I've always said that in my thirties I want to become a really good actress." She has already made a big screen appearance, performing a tango scene with Antonio Banderas in the movie Take The Lead. Katya married Danish dance champion Klaus Kongsdal at a chateau in the Loire Valley and said: "It was magical." The couple's guests included recent Strictly contestants such as Holly Valance - plus her fiance Nick Candy - as well as Anita Dobson and Nancy Dell'Olio, who was late for the ceremony but arrived for the reception. Other guests included Brendan Cole and his pregnant wife Zoe, Kristina Rihanoff and her partner Joe Calzaghe, Ian Waite, former Strictly champion Matthew Cutler and Anton du Beke. Katya only recently found she had been dropped from Strictly. Programme judge and wedding guest Craig Revel Horwood told Hello! he was shocked by her departure - the only professional who will not return to the series next year. He said: "I found out about it in the newspaper actually. I rang her because I was really concerned and she was lying on a beach. "I wanted to tell her that we are all on her side and she's still part of the Strictly family. I wanted to reassure her that she will still be on the next tour."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.