The BBC has issued a strongly worded rebuff to claims Strictly Come Dancing is fixed. The statement came after former Strictly star Rachel Riley said show bosses know from the start who they want to win.
Speaking about the hit BBC show to The Sunday Times Magazine, Rachel, 36, said: “I think they know from the start who they want to win and what journeys they want to take different people on, to have the right balance, and they can obviously fix the scores.”
Rachel, who competed in the show in 2013, went on to say that the show was “very produced” and that the BBC viewing public want celeb contestants who have no ballroom dancing experience, rather than those with extensive training, the Miror reports.
On Rachel's fix claims, a BBC spokeswoman said: “This claim is categorically untrue. The BBC has strict procedures and editorial guidelines in place regarding impartiality and Strictly upholds all of these.”
After the show, from which she was voted out in the fifth round, Rachel found love with her partner Pasha Kovalev, 42, who she started dating after filming ended and she had split from her first husband, Jamie Gilbert.
