Former Strictly Come Dancing star Rachel Riley has claimed that the BBC1 dance show is fixed, saying that bosses know from the start who they want to win.
The Countdown star, 36, competed in the celebrity dance competition in 2013 and was voted out in the fifth round.
But 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.
Rachel told The Sunday Times Magazine of Strictly: “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 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.
She added: “I think Brits want an underdog. We want to build someone up, not see someone who is good from the start – that's not the heart of these programmes.”
Rachel also said she suffered from a mild form of post-traumatic stress disorder after competing in the hit show in a “really intense period” and underwent cognitive behavioural therapy afterwards.
She said: “I had insecurities about my dancing because your whole self-worth is built around it. And you have this team mentality, then you’re suddenly dropped. It still carries on but you’ve been put in the bin.
“And you don’t do the exercise you were doing, so you have the loss of all the serotonin … When I was doing it, it was the best fun, then in the years that followed it was just...tricky.
“A lot of people end up with some sort of mental misalignment from it. Sophie Ellis-Bextor said that they needed to have a bit more care for contestants. I’m glad I’m away from it now.”
Rachel also touched on the infamous Strictly curse as she talked about her marriage to Russian dancing pro Pasha, with whom she now has two daughters Maven, 2, and six-month-old Noa.
Rachel said: “Are you calling my babies a curse? That’s not right! If you have cracks [Strictly] can expose them. It gave me the distance to make the break that was going to happen anyway.”
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.”
