Strictly Come Dancing responds to voting loophole claims
Strictly Come Dancing has responded to claims by fans of Joe Sugg that they've found a loophole that could potentially advantage him in voting for the finale.
Ahead of this weekend's final episode, in which the 2018 champions will be crowned, some fan accounts have claimed that they've found a flaw in the voting system that means people can vote from outside the UK.
One Joe fan account claimed a loophole can 'trick' the site into thinking users are in the UK (via The Mirror), which may put the YouTuber at an advantage considering he has a big following outside the UK.
It could also arguably advantage fans of the other three finalists too if they have fans outside of the UK – Ashley Roberts, for example, is from the US.
The BBC's terms and conditions state that only UK viewers can vote via landline, mobile or through the BBC's website.
They state: "The BBC reserves the right to disqualify votes if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent voting has occurred or if it considers there has been any deliberate attempt to manipulate the result."
Responding to the loophole claims, the BBC said in a statement (via Metro): "We regularly make updates to our technology to help prevent access to voting via the BBC website from outside the UK which breaks our voting terms and conditions.
"Our voting platforms are robust and we have stringent procedures in place as well as independent verification. Online voting requires a BBC log in and is freely available to users across the UK without a VPN."
Strictly Come Dancing's grand final will air on BBC One on Saturday night (December 16) at 6:30pm.
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