BBC offers refunds to Strictly Come Dancing phone voters
The BBC has offered to reimburse viewers who voted in last Saturday’s semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing after more than 1,800 people complained about the outcome of the show.
Viewers complained when all three of the remaining contestants were put through to this weekend’s final because of a fiasco with the voting system.
It occurred when Rachel Stevens and presenter Lisa Snowdon received the same score by the judges and therefore both were awarded the maximum three points on the leaderboard.
Holby City actor Tom Chambers received the lowest score from the judges - equating to one point on the leaderboard - meaning he could never be saved by the public, no matter how many points public voting earned him.
Following the show, a decision was made to scrap all votes, leading 1,687 people to email a complaint to the BBC, and a further 193 to call and complain.
In a statement issued today, the BBC said it would be “offering refunds to anyone unhappy about their votes in the semi-final who would like to be reimbursed for their calls”.
It added that it had been working on a solution for the final and that the “fairest option” would be to allow the combined scores of the judges and the audience to carry over to the first show of Saturday’s two-programme final.
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