‘Strictly Come Dancing’ bosses have strongly denied that producers on the show have any influence over how the four judges vote.
Reps for the show have insisted that judges Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell, Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli have the final say on who to save and who to send home after eliminated contestant Vick Hope hinted that might not be the case.
The Capital Radio presenter was sent home at the weekend after losing out to Seann Walsh in the dance-off.
But during the Capital Breakfast show on Monday, Vick revealed that producers had a discussion before the judges gave their final decision on Sunday night’s results show.
“It was very strange because after the dance-off the judges have to give their decisions but there was a bit of a conflab with some producers and then they gave their decisions,” VIck explained. “It was just stunned silence in the studio, it was a really weird atmosphere.”
But a BBC spokesperson told RadioTimes.com that any suggestion that producers had any influence on the final decision was completely unfounded and technically impossible because of how the voting process works.
“It is categorically untrue to imply that producers tell the judges how to score or who to save,” the spokesperson said. “Each judge votes on each dance independently, based on its merits and in their expert opinion alone.
“The judges use an electronic voting pad to transmit their score or choice of who to save to the production gallery which is then locked in and cannot be changed.
“Only after this does a producer speak to the judges, advising them on how long they have to speak and reminding them to give a reason for their decisions. The process was exactly the same this weekend.”
Vick also addressed what many people perceived as Shirley Ballas’s apparent frosty attitude towards her, admitting she’d “never been spoken to like that”.
“I think I’ve gotta be careful what I say here, because you never know what someone’s thinking,” she said. “And it was from week one that people were suggesting there was something there, I don’t know. It’s been consistent and Saturday night I really felt it was just weird, wasn’t it?
“I’d never really been spoken to like that. She really relished in it.”
A video of Vick’s interview, which Capital Radio tweeted on Monday, has since been deleted.
Vick also made no mention of her earlier comments during an appearance on Strictly’s sister show ‘It Takes Two’ on Monday night, insisting she “respected” all four judges.
She told host Zoe Ball: “I respect them so much because they are the best in their field that goes without saying.
“So whatever they say it goes and that’s how it works, and I understand that’s how the show works and I will do everything I can with this brilliant platform. This was a brilliant opportunity. They didn’t think we were the best couple and that’s cool.”