Anton Du Beke: Strictly Come Dancing fix claims are "complete nonsense"
The long-running Strictly pro rubbishes rumours that the dancing competition is fixed, saying, "It's the audience really who own the show"
Strictly Come Dancing 2015 has been plagued by claims the competition is fixed, after departing professional dancer Ola Jordan suggested the judges 'over and under-mark' celebrities to ensure certain stars stay in the competition for longer.
But long-running pro Anton Du Beke, who has been part of the dancing show since its inception in 2004, has spoken out to rubbish the rumours.
The 49-year-old, who is dancing with finalist Katie Derham in Saturday's final, has called the claims "complete nonsense," saying, "It's ludicrous."
"Strictly Come Dancing is like nothing you've ever experienced in your life. It's huge. It's massive. And any mention of fixing sort of makes me laugh really because that would suggest that there's quite a lot of organisation going on to fix something…it's too complex a thing to even get involved in," he said ahead of the Strictly final.
"It's complete nonsense. Also they have a building next to the BBC called Compliance which is an ever so slightly larger building with its own postcode who oversee everything. It's ludicrous in its concept.
More like this
"The public really have a say, the judges do their thing and the public have their own part in it where they have an equal share of the vote," he continued. "The public love the show and invest in the show and make the show what it is and that's why we get 12, 13, 14 million viewers. And they don't want it to be spoiled, so nobody's going to spoil it. It's like giving somebody a Christmas present and telling them what it is before they've opened it.
"Strictly Come Dancing is the purest sort of television there is," he concluded. "It's the best show on telly, with the best audience. The audience stay loyal. It's the audience really who own the show."
Anton was also questioned on recent claims that he's a "diva" behind the scenes, and responded: "I'm a nightmare, let me tell you!
"I never walk. I get carried to the edge of the floor," he laughed.
Strictly Come Dancing: the Grand Final is on Saturday 19th December from 6:35pm on BBC1
