Strictly Come Dancing bosses deny show is ‘fixed’ after claims by Rachel Riley

Strictly Come Dancing bosses have hit back after Rachel Riley suggested the show was ‘fixed’.

Countdown star Rachel competed in the 2013 series of Strictly, partnered with now husband Pasha Kovalev.

In an interview with The Times, Rachel said the show was “very produced” and suggested the judges’ marks could be ‘fixed’.

She told the newspaper: “I think they know from the start who they want to win and what journeys they want to take different people on, to have the right balance, and they can obviously fix the scores.”

In response, the BBC said: “This claim is categorically untrue.

“The BBC has strict procedures and editorial guidelines in place regarding impartiality and Strictly upholds all of these.”

Meanwhile, Rachel dismissed the so-called Strictly ‘curse’ after splitting from her ex-husband during her time on the show.

Referring to her two daughters with Pasha, Rachel said: “Are you calling my babies a curse? That’s not right! If you have cracks [Strictly] can expose them. It gave me the distance to make the break that was going to happen anyway.”

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One later this year with a brand new series.

Celebs rumoured for the line up include TV chef Gino D’Acampo, TV presenter Helen Skelton and Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Also tipped for the cast are presenter George Webster and TV star Scarlett Moffatt.

Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly will be back to host the show which typically begins in September.

The returning professional dancers were announced earlier this year after Oti Mabuse and Aljaž Škorjanec announced their exits from the series.

Those back will be Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Graziano Di Prima, Amy Dowden, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Cameron Lombard, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu.

You can currently catch up on the latest series of Strictly on BBC iPlayer here.