The man responsible for leaking Strictly Come Dancing elimination spoilers has defended himself, saying he's "providing a service."
Strictly Come Dancing airs on both Saturday and Sunday each weekend throughout its run, 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 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 before even getting to watch their dance-off against Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima.
And leaker David Thorp has been sharing the leaked results on his site for years.
Now the 'mole' David, 42, has spoken out and defended his actions following calls for the leaks to end.
Speaking to Mail Online, he said: "I'm just providing a service and am not spoiling anyone's enjoyment.
"I don't put the results for everyone to see and they have to search for my site to find out the results.
"There is an appetite from people who want to know the results before Sunday."
He also said that it could be argued the BBC is to blame for recording Sunday's results episode on Saturday night.
The Mirror has approached David for further comment.
It's been reported that for years David has been publishing the Strictly results early on his website.
Speaking on Loose Women about the leaking today, judge Anton Du Beke 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."
He continued: "The audience, like the people who go to [Agatha Christie murder mystery play] The Mousetrap for example, which has been going for years, we’re all in it together.
"Knowledge is power and all that sort of stuff, everyone has an agreement we won’t say anything, so I don’t know who does it."
Anton concluded: "They call you a spoiler for a reason – because you’re a spoiler. Don’t do it… Try to stop spoiling it please, because people don’t want to know."
After she and Matt were eliminated during Sunday's episode, Nadiya shared her thoughts over their early exit, and heaped praise on the Bros singer as she spoke of getting to know the real Matt.
She said: "First I’m so grateful that I got to teach and dance with a music icon.
"But, more important than this, I got the privilege to get to know Matt, for who you really are. Not many people know you and you’re a beautiful soul, very kind human and a real gentleman."
