Strictly Come Dancing stars Brendan Cole and Aliona Vilani have reportedly fallen out following a legal battle over a photo.

According to The Sun Aliona reportedly threatened to sue fellow professional dancer Brendan, after he used a promotional picture of her to promote his new dance project A Night To Remember, which she does not appear in.

Strictly Come Dancing star Aliona Vilani
Aliona Vilani is reportedly not happy with Brendan Cole (Ian West/PA)

The newspaper said Kiwi Brendan was forced to pay a sizeable fee to the Russian dancer to settle her case of using her image without license out of court.

Aliona – who won Strictly in 2011 with McBusted’s Harry Judd – appeared with Brendan in his Licence To Thrill tours in 2013 and 2014.

But now insiders claim the legal clash has ruined their friendship and they are refusing to dance together on the BBC show.