AS WE JOIN THEM AT TOUR REHEARSALS 'STRICTLY PROFESSIONALS TELL WHY THEY ARE ONE BIG FAMILY

There's a buzz of excitement in the air when HELLO! joins the dance stars of Strictly Come Dancing during rehearsals for their The Professionals UK tour

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"It's always so much fun when we all come together like this," says Karen Hauer, taking a break for our exclusive chat.

Strictly's longest-reigning professional dancer, who joined the show in 2012, has been reunited with her co-stars - Gorka Márquez, Neil Jones, Dianne Buswell, Jowita Przystal, Nikita Kuzmin, Luba Mushtuk, Vito Coppola, Nancy Xu and Carlos Gu - and tells us: "We're like brothers and sisters." The close-knit cast have been leaning on each other more than ever after the passing of former Strictly head judge Len Goodman at the age of 78 in April, following a diagnosis of bone cancer.

Karen echoes their sentiments when she says: "He was a gentleman on the ballroom and off, and an inspiration to all of us dancers as a judge and as a human being.

"From the moment I met Len, he was warm and caring and he made me feel right at home in Strictly," she adds.

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Karen's love of dancing has spilt over into her personal life - she has been teaching her new husband Jordan Wyn-Jones to dance.

"Bless him, he's a three!" she says, giving Jordan, whom she married in a ceremony covered exclusively by HELLO! last summer, a Strictly score out of ten.

When it comes to the action at today's rehearsals, however, it's tens all round.