VANESSA Feltz thinks that the bosses of Strictly Come Dancing are deliberately trying to force Chris McCausland out of the competition.

Last week saw a twist in the format of the long-running BBC One show as fans slammed the change.

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Vanessa Feltz previously took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2013Credit: PA:Press Association

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She has accused bosses of trying to force out a contestant on the 2024 seriesCredit: Youtube / Vanessa Feltz

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Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell were the first to be eliminated from the SambathonCredit: PA
Chris McCausland, 47, was the first star to be eliminated from the dreaded Sambathon on Strictly Come Dancing over the weekend.

Vanessa Feltz, 62, previously competed on the show in 2013 and she has now weighed in on the controversy.

The This Morning presenter claimed it might have been a way for execs to make sure the comedian was the next star to be eliminated.

In a new video posted onto her YouTube channel, the legendary TV broadcaster explained: “The bosses at the BBC, I mean the senior producers and all the people in charge of the program, when they want to get rid of you, they have ways of dislodging you.

“One is the music that they choose to make you dance to. The other is the VT, the videotape of what you’ve been doing that week.

“The other, of course, is the costume you could like a right
prannit. And when you look like a prannit, people don’t vote for you. There’s all that going on.

“But now let’s put another unexpected ingredient into the mix, the samba dance-a-thon”.

The former TalkTV star insinuated that the Sambathon was a way to ‘dislodge’ Chris in the competition as she said that it was “not a level playing field.”

She asked: “Was it fair to put them in this context? Was it fair, or was it just a way of giving Chris the fewest points, moving him down the leaderboard and saying without saying goodbye, sayonara, farewell?

“I think that that Sambathon was unfair to Chris and Diane. I did not like it as I saw it happening.”

Dianne Buswell was ‘hiding secret backstage struggle’ before incredible Strictly performance with Chris McCausland
In her rant she continued: “I thought, This is not a level playing field here. This is not fair. This is not right.

“They’ve introduced this. I reckon it’s because they want to say goodbye to Chris.

“I don’t want these left field obstacles flung in his path. It’s not fair. I told you, when the bosses on Strictly have had enough of you, they have ways of making you leave.”

Chris won legions of fans as the first blind contestant to compete on the beloved prime-time ballroom and Latin competition.

Strictly 2024 pairings

Here’s who is matched with who this series…

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe
Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk
Paul Merson and Karen Hauer
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał
Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec

Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova
Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones
Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones

Vanessa thinks the controversial part of the show may have put the comedian at an immediate disadvantage.

“It’s incredibly difficult for anyone to negotiate a dance a song when you don’t know where the people that you’re dancing in competition with are going,” the star suggested.

“You don’t know where they’re headed, you haven’t seen their choreography, you haven’t had a chance to practice altogether on the floor.

“When you can see everything that’s going on, it’s still incredibly difficult to avoid a collision when, like Chris, you cannot see, you do not have the power of sight.”

When the bosses on Strictly have had enough of you, they have ways of making you leave.

Vanessa Feltz

She added: “Can you imagine how difficult that was for him and for Diane?

“Diane is trying to negotiate, to navigate, not to crash into anybody, and lo and behold, who went out first in the Sambathon? Chris and Diane!”

 

The Sun has contacted Strictly Come Dancing for comment.

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Vanessa admitted that bosses have different tools that they use to try and get contestants eliminatedCredit: BBC

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In A video rant posted onto her YouTube account, Vanessa thought the format change was unfairCredit: Youtube / Vanessa Feltz

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She insinuated that the format of the Sambathon made things hard for Chris with his blindnessCredit: PA