Fresh Strictly fix row erupts in final as fans slam judges’ scores and demand for change after winner is revealed
STRICTLY fans have slammed the judges' scoring and demanded a change to the show after Ellie Leach won the 2023 final.
Viewer insisted the judges' scores should be scrapped in a major change to the format.
They hit out on social media after Coronation Street star Ellie failed to nab a 10 from judge Craig Revel Horwood, and West End star Layton Williams won the first perfect score of final.
But Ellie, 22, went on to beat Layton and EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier to the lift the Glitter Ball trophy.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one viewer said: "Strictly, what a fix. They ALL should have got 4 tens not just Layton. Absolute joke"
Another tweeted: "Strictly is a fix if @LaytonWilliams wins!! Never should a trained dancer have been allowed to enter!!"
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Another also hit out at head judge Shirley Ballas and said: "Shirley gave Ellie a 9 when she made a mistake. Layton & Nikita make a mistake that she herself mentions, she still gives a 10. Tell me this isn't favouritism."
Eearlier in the night, Anton Du Beke told Layton and his pro partner Nikita Kuzmin after they dazzled with their Argentine Tango to Tattoo by Loreen: "To be honest with you, you're showing off now!"
The West End star continued to receive excellent feedback with Motsi Mabuse, 42, telling Layton: "I don't think we've ever had a dancer like you Layton, and I don't think we'll ever again have a dancer like you."
Speaking after his second dance, Layton thanked viewers for keeping him in the competition.
He told host Claudia Winkleman: "I thought I'd have to be fighting for my place every week, so thank you for the people who have voted for me. Love wins."
He added: "If we won it would feel like a celebration, for peopel who feel like they don't fit in."
He turned to Nikita and said: "I just want to say thank you for holding my hand throughout this journey. I couldn't have done it without you."
Viewers of the hit BBC programme called out the "flaw" and insisted the judges scores should be given the boot in the 2024 final.
One said: "The @bbcstrictly judges can fix all the other rounds but they can't fix the final. Time to scrap judges scores counting next year. Viewers votes only should count. Stop the Strictly fix."
Another said: "Just one more point, I really don’t know why the judges give scores in the final when they mean nothing. It really doesn’t serve a purpose."
They also want to see the semi-final dance off scrapped completely.
It comes after Annabel Croft left last Sunday amid a fix storm - with fans saying the ex tennis ace was "criminally undermarked."
They are insisting the semi-final result should be determined purely by the public vote - in an attempt to quash any bias - and claim Annabel would have been saved by the public.
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The calls for change come after head judge Shirley Ballas, 63, sparked a fresh sexism row during the show's penultimate episode.
In the early stages of the BBC1 show, Shirley gave the lowest scores out of all four judges to former newsreader Angela Rippon, 79, former Coronation Street star Ellie and media personality Zara McDermott, 26.
