They knew they were giving Graz the boot, one of the taller pros. Aljaz was to replace him and to detract from the negative headlines.
They couldn't have had the full roster by then presumably or they do genuinely cast it on the chemistry try-outs.
But it's a strange one, given the rumours that Aljaz had annoyed crew in his last series then the tour clash-with-a-female-pro story that came out recently. He'd also left to go onto better things, before being cut from Matilda. I don't dislike him but nor am I overwhelmed with the pairing. Plus his gapping in QS annoys me.
Kai and Tasha made sense but Nadiya and him splitting goes against the Happy Family On Steroids vibes they'll be going for this year. Nadiya saw bosses earlier: this could have been about not being benched, or about Aljaz's hiring or about not being paired with Kai (she was with Nikita yesterday, he was with Luba). She's also been quoting from and carrying around that DV book all Summer (It ends with us).
The understudy thing is hogwash, given that actual understudies haven't been used (notably Neil for Anastacia when early boot Gorka got the gig instead, Kevin stepped in for Neil while Gorks was getting Starbucks and Brendan replaced both Artem and Robin. They even made a Knight in Shining Armour VT of him). Poor Chloe, Brandon and up until now, Michelle, have just been sat there (I'm surprised Michelle got picked this year, given the behind the scenes tattle of her causing friction last Autumn).
Those benched. Kai was a First Boot with Kaye (not last year, sorry, the year before last) so perhaps not getting as many votes as a pro as one might expect. Plus the bust-up with Nadiya. Awks. Plus being flatmate at one point with Gio. (Who? When? What report? Nothing to see here. Deploy Brucie's Broom Stat).
Carlos had some critique of his choreo last year. Had a decent run in both seasons though. At 5"7 neither tall nor short for this year's lot. Came out but no male same-sex pairing this year to exploit that. Lauren - I am amazed was kept on the bench as she did so well last year. Unless being used for Chris as additional support for Dianne or for JB as additional support for Amy or for Tash as additional support for Aljaz (very unlikely, the last one) it's odd. She was Gio's tour partner and Krishnan's partner (who got the scoop on Amanda's interview) but neither of those things should have gone against her.