Strictly refund for BBC
2008-12-16 22:14
London - The BBC said on Tuesday it
will offer a refund to viewers unhappy about confusion
surrounding the public vote for Saturday's Strictly Come
Dancing television show.
More than 1 500 people have complained after producers took
the decision to put all three remaining contestants through to
next week's final on the dance contest show, which pairs
celebrities with professional dancers judged by a panel.
Viewers can pay to phone in a vote for a contestant and the
public vote has rescued losers from being booted off.
The four judges on the popular programme had awarded the
same points to Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon, meaning the
other semi-finalist Tom Chambers could not be saved from a
dance-off whatever the outcome of a public vote.
The corporation initially said it would not offer a refund
and said the millions of votes cast would be carried over to the
final on Saturday.
But BBC head of entertainment production Jon Beazley told
the spin-off show It Takes Two that the corporation had now
decided to offer viewers their cash back.
"What's also important to say as well is that if somebody is
really unhappy about that and they feel very strongly that they
want to have a refund from their voting last Saturday, then we
will refund that call cost," he said.
On Monday, the corporation said the show's producers were
examining how they could avoid the situation happening again.
The voting confusion follows the controversy caused when
former BBC political correspondent John Sergeant quit the show
last month.
Sergeant's often inelegant dance steps earned him the
derision of the judges but his sense of fun won him mass public
popularity who voted to keep him on the show.
His decision to leave, amid mounting criticism from some of
the ousted contestants, led to howls of protests from many of
the programme's fans.