[Red Moon]

BBC'S RACE HORROR

Row over middle England's top
show, Strictly Come Dancing

THE BBC is embroiled in a furious race row over talented BLACK celebs being booted off Strictly Come Dancing while WHITE stars with “two left feet” stay in.

Complaints have flooded into the BBC’s website in their hundreds since last weekend’s “unfair” dance-off between the 2008 show’s ONLY two black contestants.

"Having two black people at the bottom who hadn't even performed badly looked very bad for us"

And yesterday angry stars demanded a probe into what many see as racist voting patterns on the series dubbed Middle England’s favourite,

The uproar follows Rising Damp star Don Warrington and M People singer Heather Small coming bottom in the public vote last Sunday after performing BETTER than three white celebs.

Don got 23 points from the judges and Heather 21, while TV journalist John Sergeant only scraped 16, and swimmer Mark Foster and GMTV frontman Andrew Castle managed just 17.

Last night a Beeb insider admitted chiefs were mortified by the public vote, saying: “There were a lot of people at the BBC who watched in horror on Sunday night, like viewers did.

“Having two black people in the bottom two who hadn’t even performed badly was a very bad look for us.”

But the result was just the latest in a string of controversial public votes.

After Don was booted out by the judges, the official Strictly website was besieged with accusations of racism.

One viewer fumed: “I’m really concerned the voting for Strictly is racist. There’s no way Don and Heather both deserved to be in the bottom two.”

Black olympic sprinting ace John Regis was also horrified, telling us: “I was shocked. I thought, ‘You must be kidding.’ It’s not like sport, when it’s down to performance—other factors come into play. Strictly is a middle-class kind of show and that possibly could be the area where racism still festers. I feel sorry for Don. I wouldn’t go on Strictly for all the tea in China.”

In the 2007 series, black soccer legend John Barnes was in the dance-off FOUR times, despite out-scoring white celebs.

The previous year Beeb bosses even changed the rules of the competition after hotly tipped finalist DJ Spoony was voted off after just three weeks.

They introduced the dance-off to save good dancers like him who had scored poorly with the public.

Also in 2006, black Harry Potter heartthrob Ray Fearon, was shockingly evicted before white goalie Peter “Two Left Feet” Schmeichel. And in 2005, black Holby City star Jaye Jacobs was voted off in the second week after getting better marks than three others.

Last night Spoony said it was time the subject of racist voting on shows like Strictly was given a wider airing. He said: “This is a big issue.”

Heather Small, who was competing again last night, declined to comment. But a close pal said: “There’s definitely something in this. There may be institutional racism at work in the public vote.”

Her show rival Austin Healey denied voting was racist. Mixed-race singer Alesha Dixon WON last year, and athlete Colin Jackson was runner-up in 2005.

Austin said it was about personalities and talent, adding: “The British public are very diverse. You need to have a good story when you’re in this show as well.”

Dance partner Erin Boag said: “John Sergeant was the underdog, Andrew is in GMTV, Mark Foster—he got his chest out. It just happened to be Heather and Don in the bottom.”

The BBC temporarily closed its Strictly website forum after it was besieged. A spokesman said: “We encourage its use as an opportunity for viewers to discuss the show. Users have expressed opinions on both sides of the argument.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said it was an “interesting” issue and pledged to investigate any complaints it received about Strictly.

If you think Strictly Come Dancing is racist, you can complain to the BBC at bbc.co.uk/complaints. You can also ring the BBC to complain on 03700 100222 or write to BBC Complaints, PO Box 1922, Glasgow G2 3WT

Source: News of the World