Thomas Skinner has alleged he received a message suggesting the BBC had rigged the vote that saw him eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.
The businessman claimed on social media that the night he left the competition he was sent an “anonymous email claiming to be from a BBC exec with stats” that showed he had “received far more votes than it appeared”.
Skinner, a former Apprentice contestant, was the first celebrity contestant to be voted out in this year’s series in September.
It will finish on Saturday night with Karen Carney, Amber Davies and George Clarke competing to take home the trophy.
Skinner has described himself as “non-political”, despite appearing to align himself with the right by wearing a Maga (Make America Great Again) baseball cap and posing for pictures with US vice-president JD Vance.
He added the email also claimed the BBC was “angry” and “nervous” over his meeting with Vance. The corporation has denied the allegations.
A BBC spokesperson said on Saturday: “Strictly Come Dancing’s public vote is independently overseen and verified to ensure complete accuracy every week.
“Any claims to the contrary are entirely without foundation. Unfortunately, despite requests for it, Mr Skinner is yet to share the email he references with anyone from the BBC so we are unable to comment on it.”
It comes after newspaper reports said the social media personality is planning to sue the BBC over his early elimination from the programme.
The BBC is not aware of any legal complaint over the matter, the Guardian understands.
PromoVeritas, the company which independently verifies the Strictly public vote, said: “All votes are independently and comprehensively verified by two auditors.
“We can confirm that all votes received are validated. This has been the case every week and we have reported no issues with the public vote or how it is being represented in the final results.”
Skinner, 34, also claimed he had the authenticity of the alleged email from a BBC executive “independently verified”. However, it is unclear how he did so.
He added there were “smaller things” that added to the feeling of “how unfair it all was”, such as his welcome gift to the show being the only one that “got stolen apparently”.
In response, a BBC spokesperson said: “The Strictly Come Dancing production team categorically did not supply ‘welcome gifts’ to any of the cast.”
Skinner announced he would not be attending Saturday’s Strictly final – which sees former contestants return.
He is back on the BBC for Celebrity Apprentice on 29 and 30 December, and was present at the BBC’s press launch for the programme last month, the Guardian understands.
#Strictly #contestant #claims #BBC #fixed #vote #eliminated #news