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Strictly Come Dancing has come under fire after the shock exit of popular contestant, Khanyi Mbau.
Things got heated when Khanyi yesterday took to Twitter, saying she would not take part in the finale, where she was supposed to perform her favourite dance. "I refuse to be part of a damage control episode. You know the truth."
This led to fans questioning the legitimacy of votes on the show, as well as the voting process.
The SABC, however, is sticking by its guns, saying that the votes are "totally accurate and audited throughout the show."
In a statement released to The Juice, the exact voting and judging process was outlined.
- The public is prompted to vote contestants to remain "in" the show instead of being "voted off" the show.
- The rules clearly state the closing time for valid votes and any votes (SMS'ES) received after the closing time do not count. All contestants are subjected to the same rule.
- Judges votes count for 50% and viewer votes count for another 50 %.
- The combined scores and viewer votes determine the couples’ points for the night.
- If two couples end up with the same number of points, the couple with the higher viewer votes escapes the dance-off.
- In the event of a dance off, the judges decide totally independently on who wins the dance-off and it's solely based on that specific performance only. No public votes are considered at this stage, as the voting lines are already closed.
The statement goes on to add that while Khanyi does receive massive support on social networks, it doesn't always show in the votes. Executive Producer for Strictly Come Dancing, Kee-Leen Irvine even added that she empathises with Khanyi. " In getting to know her, I developed a very strong respect for her. She exited very graciously from the show & received my disappointment & commiserations in a very gracious manner. I totally understand and empathize with her disappointment as she put a LOT of work into this - many, many hours.”
That's all very good and well, but as we saw back in 2009 with the Idols drama, there can be technical problems. It's entirely possible there are backlogs of SMS'es received after the allocated time, even though they were sent within the competition times.
Could this have happened with Khanyi? Strictly is adamant that it hasn't...
