“The only criteria are talent, personality and passion,” the BBC promised when it announced that Arlene Phillips would judge a televised search to find Britain’s favourite dancer.

But the corporation has been hit by a new ageism row after it emerged that dancers over 35 have been barred from auditioning for its new Saturday night show on BBC One.

The English Amateur Dancesport Association (Eada) has complained that its members have been banned from competing in So You Think You Can Dance, which will fill the slot of Strictly Come Dancing in January.

The BBC placed advertisements for “dancers from all disciplines”, both amateur and professional, to take part in auditions for the show, which has already been a hit in the United States.

Competitors will be challenged to demonstrate dance styles including “hip hop, jazz, broadway, lyrical and contemporary”. But the BBC will not see dancers aged over 35, arguing that they lack the physical condition to perform the most challenging routines.

The restriction could be embarrassing for Phillips, 66, who was replaced on the Strictly panel by Alesha Dixon, 30, in a move that prompted criticism that the BBC was guilty of “ageism”.

David Corfield, president of the Eada, which agreed to help the BBC to publicise its auditions, said: “We had no idea they were excluding dancers over 35. It’s a load of rubbish,” he told The Times. “There are an enormous number of people dancing competitively at the highest level over 35.”

Mr Corfield, 72, remains a regular competitor with his wife, Mary. The couple won the over-50s ballroom category at the Blackpool Dance Festival in their 60s.

The Eada has warned the BBC that it could face a challenge in the courts. “I’m not sure that it is legal to discriminate by age in this way,” he said.

Mr Corfield accepted that disco and hip-hop style manoeuvres favoured younger performers but said: “You are unlikely to find a major champion under the age of 35And older dancers have no problem with the quickstep, waltz and tango. I imagine there are millions of Strictly Come Dancing viewers over 35 and this new show could surely benefit from having older dancers having a go alongside the younger kids.”

A BBC spokesman said: “This show isn’t just ballroom dancing. Competitors have to perform hip-hop, disco and contemporary routines. The dancers are going to be breakdancing and spinning on their heads so they have to be athletes. It’s unlikely you will find a dancer in peak physical position too far into their 30s.”

The BBC cited “locking”, a series of tightly-sequenced arm and leg moves popularised in R&B videos by artists such as Beyoncé, as a style that the over-60s would find impossible to replicate without the threat of injury.

The spokesman added: “Dancing partners are also a big element and it wouldn’t work very well if you have a 45 year-old partnering an 18 year-old.”

But the BBC privately fought to raise the age barrier because in the US version of the show, which is created by Simon Fuller, the entrepreneur, competitors must be between 18 to 30. A spokesman for the corporation said: “We did our best to push the age limit up and negotiated an increase to a top age of 35.”

Mr Fuller’s 19 Entertainment is co-producing the British show with the BBC. The Fox show has created youthful stars such as Jeanine Mason, this year’s winner, who was just 18.

The BBC said also that safety was a factor because of the “incredibly demanding routines”. A spokesman said: “There is no question of ageism: [the criteria] are borne of responsibility, logic and care.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said that any challenge to the BBC would hinge on whether the dancers who appear on the show are defined by contract as “employees”. The BBC would then have to argue that the age restriction was “objectively justified”.

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