Strictly unfair..
Vick hits out at ‘secret chat’ before she was dumped
STRICTLY Come Dancing bosses were embroiled in a fix row yesterday after Vick Hope claimed the judges conferred with producers before saving Seann Walsh and Katya Jones.
The Capital FM radio DJ claimed the ballroom fell into a “stunned silence” when Shirley Ballas backed the pair, who were caught drunkenly kissing in the street this month, following a dance off against her and partner Graziano Di Prima.
Roman Kemp, the co-host of Vick’s show, raged yesterday: “It’s not the best kisser that goes through.”
Vick, 29, told listeners the situation was “very strange”. She said: “So after the dance off, then the judges give their decisions but there was a bit of a conflab with some producers and then they gave their decisions and it was just stunned silence in the studio, it was really weird.”
Vick also implied she had clashed with head judge Shirley, 58, and that when she criticised her “she really relished it”.
One fan, Ravi Mal, described her departure as a “travesty” and said: “Vick Hope over Seann Walsh any day.”
Viewer Tracey Davies added: “What were the judges thinking? Gobsmacked!”
Judge Craig Revel Horwood, who voted to save Vick, described her as “fantastic” yesterday. Craig, 53, added: “I voted for her to stay in, obviously, but the other judges made the decision and Shirley had to make the ultimate decision in the end, and she chose Seann, which is absolutely fine.
“I think equally they both improved in the dance-off, which was great, but it’s down to personal taste.”
But former Strictly dancer James Jordan said: “Shirley 100% made the right decision in the dance off.”
A Strictly source told the Mirror: “The producers would never tell the judges how to vote and there wasn’t stunned silence, the audience knows someone has to go.
“It is clear Vick is really upset to be out, but her reaction has been bizarre.”
A statement from the BBC1 show said: “Each judge votes on each dance independently. They use an electronic voting pad to transmit their score or choice of who to save to the production gallery, which is then locked in and cannot be changed.
“Only after this does a producer speak to the judges, advising them on how long they have to speak and reminding them to give a reason for their decisions.”
There was a stunned silence in the studio... it was just really weird VICK HOPE ON BEING VOTED OFF BY SHIRLEY