Why viewers are brandishing Strictly Come Dancing a fix
It wasn’t all glitter balls and hilarious over the top comments from Bruno Tonioli this week, as Strictly Come Dancing has been accused of fixing the phone lines. Viewers aren't happy that Dev Griffin, a BBC Radio 1 presenter, and his partner Dianne Buswell were booted off the show.
The pair were the third couple to leave the line-up, after failing to wow the judges with their cha cha, and viewers took to social media to express their anger saying that despite trying to vote for Dev and Dianne, they found the designated phone line for them wouldn’t accept calls. Hmm…
One Twitter user even branded it the worst night in Strictly history, while also accusing the judges of being unfair with their scoring. Others say they tried to vote for Dev and Dianne at least ten times, but their calls wouldn’t go through and the line cut off.
Worst night in @bbcstrictly history. The judges fixed the leaderboard. Someone fixed the phone lines. Then the judges threw out someone clearly bound for the final. Unbelievable. How anyone can believe the judges are impartial at this point is beyond me. A dark day for #Strictly
— Andrew Cattanach (@AACattanach) October 13, 2019
#BBCstrictly #strictlyresults
I tried to vote for @dbuzz6589 and @dev_101 at least 10 times over the phone last night... None of my calls went through, the line just cut off 🤔 And now they've been eliminated, I seriously think Strictly needs to review this situation.— Katie (@KatieMuffin22) October 13, 2019
I rarely use this word but I am truly, truly GUTTED that Dev is out of #Strictly. The beeb seriously need to sort their phone lines out. Unforgivable. #StrictlyResults
— sarah 😊 (@_anothersarah) October 13, 2019
If Dev and Di are out this week it’s because of the unfair scoring + phone line not working. Tonight show was an absolute fail.
— Anna 🦋 (@TheOnlyAnnaLena) October 12, 2019
Others pointed out that Dev is a BBC employee and said they felt it unlikely that the show could fix the phone lines against certain contestants. One also posted information from the BBC’s website saying that if the phone lines are engaged, then they’re engaged regardless of who you’re trying to vote for.
As disappointing as tonight’s result is, shouting “fix” because you couldn’t get through on the phone line isn’t fair. I believe the way the judges scored is more to blame. But again, I refuse to believe it’s fixed. The BBC could never afford to do that reputationally. #Strictly
— Elliot Gonzalez (@elliot_gonzalez) October 13, 2019
What reason do the BBC have to fix the results? As much as I'm shocked and annoyed at what happened, it's not because of any fixing. Dev is literally a BBC employee. Like maybe the phone lines weren't working but I doubt it was intentional. Unfair nonetheless #Strictly
— Hema Malik (@Hema_ByrnesArmy) October 14, 2019
However, some viewers said they voted for multiple couples and it was only when trying to help Dev and Dianne secure their spot that they received an “invalid” message from the other end of the phone.
I voted for David and Chris absolutely no problems. When I called the number for Dev I was told it was invalid, nothing to do with it being engaged! I tried for the whole voting period using twi mobiles and a landline and didn't manage once!
— Jo King (@Jo178) October 13, 2019
A spokesperson for the programme told Mail Online that the phone line blockages “impacted all contestants equally, and the likelihood of getting through was not dependent upon the celebrity the fans wanted to vote for.”
After the show, Dianne said in a tweet that she was “devastated” with the verdict and thanked Dev for being such a great learner: “I’m sure you could all see how much this meant to us 😔I’m truly gutted as @dev_101 really had so much potential and I wanted to teach him so much more. I won’t lie I’m devastated 😔 but thank you all so much for your support and dev thank you so much I’m so proud of you xx”.
Fans are now saying they’ll boycott the show. Watch this space…
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