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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Josh Luckhurst

Anton Du Beke warns high scores may not save celebs from Strictly dance-off

Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has warned celebrities that high scores does not necessarily mean safety from the dance-off due to the popular BBC One dance competition's "fifth judge" - the viewers.

The National Television Award-winning judge, 56, issued the warning while speaking to former Strictly professional dancer Janette Manara on sister show Strictly: It Takes Two on Wednesday evening.

The last two weeks have seen shock selections in the dance-off as singer and presenter Fleur East and actress Kym Marsh have both survived the dreaded scenario despite being in the middle of the leaderboard following Saturday's live performances.

Anton issued the warning on Strictly: It Takes Two on Wednesday evening (BBC)

Kym received a nine from Anton in her entertaining Samba on her way to an impressive score of 32, only to find herself in the bottom two in Sunday's results.

Anton, however, believes the uncertainty from the viewers' votes is "the best thing about Strictly Come Dancing " and loves the aspect of a mixed leaderboard.

"I think it's going to be the same moving forward, I mean last week we had Kym, who I gave her a nine for a Samba and she's in a dance-off. The week before Fleur, who did tremendous, in the dance-off," he said.

"I just think that's going to be the norm this year. That's the best thing about Strictly Come Dancing. The show doesn't work without the audience, it makes the show what it is because that's what makes it interesting – the fifth judge, everybody at home.

"Then we get this mixed up leaderboard which makes it really interesting and then we get these situations like the Anne Widdecombe's and the people at the bottom, who get a chance to stay in week after week and it makes it fun and interesting.

"I think from this point on, we'll have that sort of leaderboard every week."

Anton recently called out the Strictly 'mole' to stop ruining the show for BBC viewers.

Anton described the viewers as the 'fifth judge' on the popular BBC One dancing compeititon (BBC)

Strictly airs on both Saturday and Sunday each weekend, with viewers discovering which couple will be heading home during the latter's show, but everything recorded on the same day - meaning the live audience know which celebrity has danced for the final time by the end of the Saturday night.

The exit result this weekend was leaked on social media prior to the Sunday show airing, meaning Strictly fans discovered Matt Goss and Nadiya Bychkova were the latest couple to be sent home.

Speaking on Loose Women on Tuesday, Anton said: "It gets on my nerves. Please stop. I don’t know who you are but please stop. Don’t do it. Why would you do it? Nobody knows who it is."

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