Here's why the Strictly Come Dancing finalists DON'T want the BBC to reveal the public voting figures
The Strictly celebrities said releasing the public voting statistics would be unfair despite judge Craig Revel Horwood arguing that it would counter claims that the show is "fixed"
The Strictly Come Dancing 2017 finalists have insisted that it would be unfair for the BBC show to release the full public voting figures, arguing that it would "make some people feel really unpopular".
Unlike shows such as The X Factor and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Strictly does not reveal how many people have voted for each couple at the end of the series.
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Instead, viewers only find out which two couples are left at the bottom of the leaderboard each week once the judges' votes and viewers' votes have already been combined.
However, earlier this year judge Craig Revel Horwood called for the figures to be made public, in order to challenge accusations that the show is "fixed".
He told Radio Times, "I only wish they’d make the figures from the phone vote public, to stop any talk of the show being fixed."
Ahead of Saturday night's Strictly grand final, the four remaining celebrities said it would not be "fair" on the contestants to make the voting statistics public.
Asked if she'd like to find out how close they were to winning the Glitterball trophy, Debbie McGee said: "No! Because if it was one out, we'd all be upset."
As Gemma Atkinson and Alexandra Burke nodded in agreement, McGee added: "I don't think it would be fair on people to release the voting figures, because it would make some people feel really unpopular, and others - well, I don't see why we need to know."
Joe McFadden was also completely against the idea, answering: "No, not at all. It's sort of irrelevant."
He explained: "The important thing is that you're still here, it doesn't really matter about the numbers."
A BBC spokesperson told RadioTimes.com: "Releasing voting figures could affect the way that people vote and also have an impact on the participants. We therefore do not disclose the exact voting figures."
The Strictly Come Dancing final airs on Saturday 16th December at 6.30pm on BBC1
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