Strictly Come Dancing confirms huge format twist that'll 'change everything'
It's safe to say some of the celebrities are worried...
Strictly Come Dancing has announced a major change to how the judges cast their votes, with the power being stripped ever so slightly from Head Judge Shirley Ballas.
For the last seven years, the ultimate deciding vote on which couple will stay in the competition has been down to Shirley but now things will change as the power is given to every single judge.
Each week the deciding judge will rotate, with the first casting vote to be announced at the end of next week's Saturday night show.
The news was revealed at the very end of tonight's Strictly Come Dancing episode, as Shirley Ballas said: "For seven years I've been responsible for one gruelling decision, which hasn't always been easy. But that's about to change. It's time that power was shared by a different judge each week."
As the celebrities reacted to news, Vicky Pattison noted: "This changes everything," while Harry Aikines-Aryeetey added: "It's fair to say I'm going to do everything I can do to not be in that dance off."
This isn't the first change to voting on this year's show either, with the BBC announcing it had scrapped premium-rate voting.
The BBC said that "this is now an outdated system and also expensive to run", with the Eurovision Song Contest the last major BBC show to offer televoting.
From now one, the public will be able to cast their votes solely online, which you learn more about in this handy voting guide.
But those eager to vote will have to wait until next week, as no celebrity will be leaving the competition in the first week.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One and iPlayer.
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Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
