Strictly contestants are convinced the show’s bosses have a hidden agenda to push their favourites into the final, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Rumours circulating on the show suggest that the BBC chiefs want Tilly Ramsay’s success to continue to the final run of the series, as they are looking to seize her celebrity father Gordon from ITV.
Some of the stars also claim producers are desperate for Strictly’s first ever all-male couple, John Waite and Johannes Radebe, to go all the way to the final.
BBC chiefs desire Tilly Ramsay to be pictured dancing with Nikita Kunzmin. This is because they are looking to poach Gordon, her father, from ITV.
It is thought that TV presenter AJ Odudu, who is paired with the show’s new professional dancer, Kai Widdrington, is another favourite with the suits.
Well-placed sources say a number of contestants who are floundering in the series believe the BBC has an ‘agenda’ and would be happiest if Waite and Radebe were the eventual winners.
The bosses of Strictly were apparently shocked last year by the departure of the first gay couple, Nicola Adams & Katya Jones. Jones had tested positive for Covid after four weeks.
One source said: ‘There’s a feeling that there’s some blatant favouritism going on here – that they are pushing Tilly to win, or at least get to the final, because they want to nick her dad.
‘Then you have the issue of the all-male couple, which is just the dream of certain people involved with the show for John and Johannes to pick up the glitterball. And as for AJ, she is adored.’
Ms Odudu, who is enjoying a romance with her dance partner, has topped the judges’ leaderboard twice, including last week when she scored a near-perfect 39, but isn’t thought to be winning public votes.
One source said: ‘There’s a feeling that there’s some blatant favouritism going on here – that they are pushing Tilly to win, or at least get to the final, because they want to nick her dad’
But, they finished last night at the bottom with a Paso Doble score of just 28.
Judge Craig Revel Horwood said he was ‘a little disappointed’ by the many ‘pedestrian elements’.
After receiving a total of 40 points, Rhys Stephenson (CBBC) and Nancy Xu (professional partner), topped last night’s leaderboard.
Former McFly singer Tom Fletcher is understood to be the viewers’ favourite, along with deaf EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, although last weekend she and her partner Giovanni Pernice came in sixth place.
Kai Widdrington, AJ Odudu, and Kai Widdrington also love the suits
One contestant even claimed that before they knew they were in the dance-off, bosses were treating them in a ‘funny’ and ‘different’ manner. The source added: ‘It was like the decision had already been made before a step had been made on the dancefloor.’
Last week, the mother of Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty accused producers of a ‘fix’ after her son was eliminated. Many fans were furious at the BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker’s escape from the dance-off. They believed he had been saved by the Corporation.
Yesterday night’s BBC spokesperson declined to comment.