I think it could really be excellent if the BBC revealed the public's voting results on the Sunday show. Maybe not the raw scores, but the ranking (e.g. 6 to 1 this week).

That way, we could see the rankings fully just like we see the judges tally. Thinking again, why not also show the public vote data?

If the raw voting scores was deemed to be to 'revealing', then just show us the percentages.

For example: Sophie got 15% of the public's vote, which ranked her 4th, and gained her 4 points for the final dance off tally.

The celebrities already are exposed to the embarrassment of the judges comments and scores, not to mention having to dance in front of millions, so I don't think it's that much of a risk to shine as light on their popularity.

The more I think about it, the better I like it.

Thoughts?

They won't do that because then they can't manipulate for the favourites.

Awful idea. It's predictable enough as it is without knowing for sure who will win.

I mean, there's maybe an argument for doing it at the end of the series like the ITV ones do, but doing it during would be incredibly demotivating. And if you're going to reveal the percentages, that's even worse.

Some of the couples sell themselves a story about what their vote is e.g. everyone thought I was safe, I was at the bottom of the leaderboard, another couple got the sympathy vote etc. To take away whatever they need to tell themselves to get through the experience and have one couple face being least popular every week is just cruel and would create resentment if couples in the top two or three are going home because someone that the public don't like is kept out of harm's way. There's a difference between speculation and having that information for sure. Everyone wants to know what the public vote is, but I bet if they got it they'd realise that they didn't actually want to know after all.

Are you suggesting that the BBC, very much open to public scrutiny these days both in the press and in Parliament, with a number of Cabinet ministers openly critical of it, and the DCMS Select Committee already having various execs in its sights, are dishonestly manipulating the voting figures?

If so, where is the evidence? This could be explosive and would surely mean that the current production team would be removed/sacked and the future of the show would be in doubt, if not the future of the BBC itself.

It'd make the show terribly predictable and boring if they revealed the voting order every week. X Factor USA tried it and it was universally panned by viewers and the press. The final two were the top two in the votes every single week, usually with the eventual winner first and the eventual runner-up second. It drained the life out of a show that was already on a ratings slide.

It'd also stir up silliness and pettiness amongst viewers. There's already an absurd idea that the judges shouldn't be "allowed" to mark people high if they're not popular with the public and that instead of judging, the judges should just go with the public's whims. To a certain extent this nonsense helps the show, because the judges are set up as the villains who the public "save the show" from, but I can only imagine if people had actual voting stats to back their flouncing up it'd tip it over the edge into farce.

There would be a lot of ways to do this. Instead of Tess saying - 'In no particular order', she actually could do it in proper top down order.

The saving the celeb's embarrassment or motivation factor seems out of proportion. Their whole reason for being on the show is to let us 'see' them. They already are motivated and trying to win votes, why not let us (and them) see how well thy are doing?

Dress up in spandex (or worse), wear make up and hair styles that are attention grabbing, do something you're not supposed to be excellent at in front of millions, let us and professional judges critique your performance, and subject yourself to public voting? After all that, you're worried for their motivation?

If, say, Patrick or Abbey had been bottom of the public vote every single week, and we'd been told every single week they were bottom of the public vote, do you really think that would enhance the show? Do you not think, as celebrities, that sort of thing would drive away people wanting to participate far more than a bit of spandex and Craig occasionally telling them they danced like a Dalek would?

Yes I do. I would like to know, and think it would also affect how I voted next week.


Not at all - I bet they want to know. The fact that they don't get to see the public results or not would be low down on the list or reasons to sign up or not. Sure, it would be a factor, but when I think about all the reasons to be on the show (or not), that added part would hardly be a deal breaker. So many other things rank higher.