‘Are you mad?’: Strictly judge Anton Du Beke addresses Angela Rippon fix claims

Anton Du Beke has addressed claims that Angela Rippon’s success on Strictly Come Dancing was “fixed”.

Rippon was the eighth contestant to be eliminated from the contest during Blackpool Week last Sunday, which was filmed at the historic Blackpool Tower ballroom.

However, throughout Rippon’s time on the show, viewers suggested that the 79-year-old broadcaster had been kept in the show until the iconic Blackpool Week because of her long-standing connection to the show – Rippon formerly presented Come Dancing, the original dance competition that gave Strictly its name.

Speaking in a new interview with Times Radio, Strictly judge Anton Du Beke addressed the conspiracy theory about Rippon, insisting he has never been asked to rig the voting.

Times Radio host Jane Garvey asked the Strictly star: “Angela Rippon was always going to get to Blackpool, wasn’t she?”

Du Beke hit back by insisting that Rippon would not have made it through nine weeks of the competition if she was a bad dancer.

“No, are you mad? No. If she was terrible in week one she’d have been first to go, probably. It doesn’t really work that way.”

“Really?” asked Garvey. “Week one, she was actually brilliant, standout performance. But did she deserve it on her dance ability, without patronising somebody, to get to Blackpool?”

Angela Rippon and professional partner Kai Widdrington

(BBC/Guy Levy)

Du Beke insisted, “Yes,” before continuing: “But we had the opportunity as judges to eliminate. And we chose not to because she was worthy of a place in the dance-off to stay in the competition.”

He added that he doesn’t have communication with the Strictly producers over who stays and who goes in the competition.

“Because the suggestion is that we care more about who stays and who goes out than we do, we don’t care. Makes no difference to us. What does it make to me? The producers don’t speak to me. They don’t come to me and go, Listen, we wouldn’t mind if you kept such and such in.”

Blackpool Week, as it has come to be known, marks a significant milestone in the dancing series.

Traditionally, Blackpool Week takes place after six weeks of eliminations – the remaining celebrities swap the BBC studios for the stage at Blackpool’s Tower Ballroom – known as “the home of ballroom dancing”.

The fan theories about Rippon’s trajectory on the show were sparked when she was saved from near-certain elimination during week seven, leaving Waterloo Road actor Adam Thomas to become the sixth contestant to be eliminated from the competition.

Angela Rippon dancing with professional partner Kai Widdrington

(BBC/Guy Levy)

During the results show, judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel-Horwood, and Du Beke, opted to save Rippon and her partner Kai Widdrington, 29, after a tense dance-off against Thomas, 35, and his partner Luba Mushtuk, 33.

While Du Beke noted this was the “closest dance-off we’ve had in the series so far”, the judges’ verdict left some fans confused.

In the aftermath of that episode, viewers highlighted veteran British broadcaster Rippon’s connection to the show.

Rippon, who made history as the show’s oldest participant when the 2023 lineup was revealed, began her journalism career with the BBC when she was 21. She continues to co-present the BBC One consumer show Rip Off alongside Gloria Hunniford and Julia Somerville.

Rippon was eventually eliminated during Blackpool Week. After her exit was announced, Rippon told her partner Widdrington she had had the “time of her life” performing on the show.

“People keep on making reference to the fact that I presented Come Dancing,” she told presenter Tess Daly. “That was 40 years ago. He [Widdrington] wasn’t even born then. But actually, being this side of the competition, this side of the programme has really been an eye-opener for me in so many different ways.”

“Kai has looked after me so brilliantly,” Rippon continued in her final interview. “He is a great dancer, choreographer, but most of all, he is a terrific teacher. He has the patience of a Saint. He got me here. He and his partner Nadia are in every sense of the word, beautiful people.”

Strictly Come Dancing continues next Saturday 25 November at 6.40pm on BBC One.