I don't believe for a second that there is any fix but a lot of DS posters do. So please - enlighten me. What is in it for the producers of Strictly or indeed, the contestants?

There is no contract, unlike X Factor where money has to be poured out - once Strictly ends, that's it. Some will be on the tour, some won't - it depends on everyone's commitments, I'd have thought. Ainsley for one is on the tour and he got nowhere near the finals.

All the finalists get is a big, glittery bauble and a few headlines for a week, but then that is it. It won't have cost the show anything extra, no matter who wins.

So - what's in it for the show to "fix" anything? I am genuinely baffled.

They would never fix the show in terms of votes. It'd cost more than it's worth if it ever comes out. However I don't put it pass them to have a vested interest and attept to manipulate viewers a certain way.

For example, this year:
IMO, the producers know they'll find is very hard to give Kevin a 'ringer' over the next few series - he has just made three finals in a row, something no other pro has done (usually because, after a final, they're given a no hoper - see Aliona go from Harry Judd to Tony Jacklin/James from Denise van Outen to Vanessa Feltz/Pasha from Caroline Flack to Carol Kirkwood). Not always of course but sometimes...

So this was the big chance to get Kevin over the line and with a win to his name before they pair him with the next Ann Widdecombe. So what if Aliona doesn't win? She has before. As for Giovanni, he's a newcomer so two 'ringers' in a row might not stand out so much (Aliona, in her second series, got Matt Baker... followed by Harry).

I also think keeping the story alive that 'no pro has won more than once' was of interest to them. It begs the question why take the risk of pairing Jay with Aliona but I think they thought he'd be another Nicky Byrne - not connect with the audience and be eliminated just before the semi-finals. Plus Aliona had two early exits in a row so giving her another duffer would look suspect (not that that ever stopped them with Ola). Peter was their big white hope from the male side.

Having a female winner nearing the age of 40 would have been new for the show as well, as would the story of the underdog coming through not one but two Dance Off's to clinch the glitterball. Compare that to another boybander... they've had one of them already.

So whilst there's no contract to sign the future of the show and where it goes from here is an interest to them, hence I don't think they'd sit back and leave everything to chance. In the end, this year, Jay's momentum throughout the series was too much to overcome.