BBC accused of over-marking Strictly Come Dancing’s Ore Oduba to get own presenters in final
The BBC Sports presenter sparked outrage after sailing through to the final leaving favourite Danny Mac in dance-off
THE BBC has been accused of over-marking Strictly star Ore Oduba in order to get one of its own presenters into the final.
Viewers were shocked when the BBC Sports host leapfrogged Danny Mac, 28, Claudia Fragapane, 19, and Louise Redknapp, 42, to top the leader board, scoring 77 out of a possible 80.
It meant Ore, 30, needed fewer public votes to secure a place in this weekend’s grand final alongside partner Joanne Clifton, 33.
Former Strictly professional James Jordan, 38, believes the judges have deliberately favoured Ore because he is a BBC star.
He told The Sun: “I’ve said for the last eight weeks that they’ve tried to push Ore. I don’t know why — maybe because he’s a BBC presenter?
“It’s clearly wrong. His dance was definitely not a ten, I would have given him a nine.”
Craig Revel Horwood was the only judge not to award Ore full marks, scoring his Quickstep eight and his Tango nine.
Danny and Claudia were left to battle it out in the dance-off, with the latter sent home by the judges.
James insisted: “The best dance of the night was performed by Claudia. Her quickstep was faultless yet she’s bottom of the judges’ leaderboard.
“Ore has been in the bottom two a couple of times so the only people saving him are the judges. Danny Mac is in a different league to him.”
Ore’s score trended on Twitter as furious fans criticised the panel.
Hema Malik wrote: “The judges would score Ore 50 for just walking if they could.”
Rebecca Phillips complained: “How on earth did @DarceyOfficial score Ore a 10 but Danny only 9? Absolutely ridiculous.”
Alex Cox added: “This score board is absolute joke!!! Ore is NO WAY better than Danny it doesn’t even bear thinking. Claudia under marked AGAIN.”
Kelly Muggs tweeted: “The judges should be called out for that score for Ore. He did not dance. It was all Jo. He moved her. Fix.”
A BBC spokeswoman said: “Each judge scores each dance independently, based on its merits and in their expert opinion.”
A source added: “The BBC has no interest in orchestrating a winner or dictating who the finalists should be and ultimately the public will choose their winner next weekend.”
The Final Countdown
FORMER Strictly pros Ola and James Jordan give The Sun their verdicts on this year’s three finalists.
Danny Mac
DANNY’S the best celeb there has been on the show by a country mile.
We’ve had loads of people with dance training before, but he really stands out. But the public might not vote because he’s so good.
Louise Redknapp
LOUISE is fantastic and has grown in confidence over the weeks — but she was clearly the worst in the semis.
She still needs to work on the performance and come out of her shell more.
Ore Oduba
YOU can see how Ore has improved.
He’s a good dancer but at times needs to be careful with his steps.
It’s clear he’s given 100 per cent each week and people at home who vote will know that.