Former Strictly pro accuses judges of planning scores in advance

Some of the scores have been a bit controversial...

Author: Alex RossPublished 23rd Oct 2023
Last updated 23rd Oct 2023

With millions of people watching Strictly Come Dancing every Saturday night, it's no surprise that not everybody agrees with the judges' scores, with Anton Du Beke, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood all being accused of both over and under scoring certain celebs.

Now, following last weekend's show, former Strictly professional James Jordan has taken to social media to accuse his former colleagues of planning their scores in advance for each routine.

James, who keeps his followers up to date by live tweeting during the show, wrote: 'It’s almost like the judges watch the rehearsals - decide their scores - but when things go wrong they don’t know what to do.' (sic)

Many Strictly fans were quick to respond to James' analysis, with many coming up with theories of their own about the way the judges score.

One wrote: 'I am not normally negative, but recently I have wondered do they have the tour line-up decided and have a need to keep certain people in via good scores'. (sic)

Another added: 'Totally agree. Judging seems staged lately', with a third writing: 'Am no expert, but scoring seems well off to me tonight'. (sic)

Another frustrated viewer said: 'This year more than any other it’s so clear they have their favourites unfortunately'. (sic)

Check out all of this year's celebs taking part:

Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez



Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima


Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe


Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola


Angela Scanlon and Carlos Gu


Luba Mushtuk and Adam Thomas


Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington


Dianne Buswell and Bobby Brazier


Lauren Oakley and Krishnan Guru-Murthy


Nikita Kuzmin and Layton Williams


Nigel Harman and Katya Jones


Jowita Przystal and Jody Cundy


Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer


Giovanni Pernice and Amanda Abbington


Les Dennis and Nancy Xu



Week five saw the remaining celebs hit the dancefloor once more, with Nikita Kuzmin and Layton Williams topping the leaderboard with a huge 39/40.

Coronation Street actress Ellie Leach and her partner Vito Coppola were in second place with 38/40, whilst Angela Rippon, Adam Thomas and Bobby Brazier also scored in the 30s.

During Sunday night's results show, comedian Eddie Kadi and Love Island star Zara McDermott found themselves in the bottom two, with the judges choosing to save Zara for another week.

Strictly Come Dancing is back next weekend for Halloween week!

Now read:

Strictly fans think Bobby Brazier should switch partners due to 'obvious issue'

See all of this year's Strictly Come Dancing pairings

Strictly Come Dancing 2023: Everything you need to know

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