Strictly Come Dancing scraps dance-off for semi-final

[dutchman]

Who goes through to the final of Strictly Come Dancing will ultimately be decided by the voting public after the dance-off was scrapped.

The fate of the two couples with the lowest votes and combined judges' scores has usually been decided by the experts after a second performance.

Now the couple with the lowest scores will leave the competition immediately.

The change follows last year's semi-final debacle when all three couples were put through to the final.

It occurred after a tie between two couples meant the third couple could not have been saved by the public vote.

That couple was Tom Chambers and Camilla Dallerup - who went on to win the final.

'Miniscule difference'

On the decision to scrap the dance-off on Saturday, judge Alesha Dixon said: "It takes the power away from us."

Fellow judge Bruno Tonioli said he thought it was a good idea.

"I think at this stage it is actually quite wise because there are only three and the difference is going to be minuscule and I think the public will have a very important say whatever we score them."

The news was announced on BBC Two spin-off show It Takes Two.

The three couples in this year's semi-final are actor Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe, actress Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna and BBC sports newsreader Chris Hollins and Ola Jordan.

There are usually four couples in the semi-final but only three remain after the withdrawal of Olympic athlete Jade Johnson due to a knee injury.

Hollins may benefit from the dance-off being scrapped, as he has scored better with the public than with the judges.

On the other hand, Whittle impressed the judges and scored the highest points but the voting public did not agree and his combined score put him in the bottom two for the second week running.

Nearly 300 viewers complained to Ofcom last year after the scoring error on last year's semi-final.

But Ofcom backed the BBC, saying the corporation acted swiftly and acknowledged the error.