Susanna Reid knows Strictly isn’t fixed and urges BBC to release voting figures

Susanna Reid said she is confident Strictly Come Dancing is not a fix – in light of recent allegations – having appeared on the show herself.

The Good Morning Britain presenter made it all the way to the final with Kevin Clifton in 2013 and says she was dogged by rigging rumours throughout.

Susanna spoke out in her Daily Mail column where she gave her take on Dev Griffin's early elimination from the competition.

After Dev and Dianne were given the boot on Sunday, some fans have claimed the show was 'fixed' as they experienced difficulty in voting for Radio One DJ.

Susanna said 'ridiculous' accusations were thrown at her during her time in the competition, with trolls saying she only got to where she did because she was a BBC employee at the time.

"It’s the same every year," said Susanna. "This weekend when Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell, got voted off, some viewers took to Twitter to say their phone line wouldn’t accept calls. The BBC said the blockage affected everyone equally.

"It must be hugely frustrating for voters, but it’s not proof of rigging," she added. "The problem is celebs at the bottom of the leader board after the judges’ scores will often get a surge of support from fans Celebrities at the top are safe, too. It’s the dangerous middle zone where fans have to do the hard lifting. Dev and Dianne were 10th — they desperately needed votes."

The judges had given Dev and Dianne a high score for their cha cha but the impact of the viewer vote sent the duo crashing into the bottom two by the end of the night.

Susanna said Strictly was as much as popularity contest as a talent show which is why 'ungainly' acts of Mike Bushell and Chris Ramsey were still in.

The presenter said she agreed with calls for the BBC to publish the voting figures each week.

"That’s one way to put the ‘fix’ rumours to bed," said Susanna.

Yesterday, Stricly professional Dianne Buswell called upon fans to stop trolling head judge Shirley Ballas.

She was alerted on Twitter that some trolls had been sending Shirley death threats over the decision to eliminate Dev from the competition.

All four judges unanimously voted to send him out in the dance off.

Shirley appeared on Loose Women to defend her decision earlier this week – and said viewers were partly responsible for his demise.

'"People have got to get out there and vote. We do our job. As you can see there were many people saved with lot lower scores.

"It's just so important. I respect everybody at home who’s been watching fifteen series. Everyone has a favourite. We do our job to the best we can.

"We have to do it right there in that split second on the one minute 20 seconds. We have to make a decision.

"The three judges were unanimous. It wasn’t down to me. It was unanimous and I agreed."

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