Strictly hit by Ofcom complaints - cruel "chubby" star jibe to fury over dance
Strictly Come Dancing recently returned to BBC One for its milestone 20th series, with millions of viewers tuning in each weekend to watch this year's celebrities take to the dancefloor with their professional partners. While Strictly has always been billed as wholesome, family-friendly fun, some moments have caused outraged fans to complain to television watchdog Ofcom in their droves.
Some shocking parts from the BBC programme include Bruno Tonioli appearing to nudge head judge Shirley Ballas' breast and Robbie Savage thrusting his crotch at Craig Revel Horwood. This season has avoided any Ofcom complaints so far, but here are some of the most complained-about Strictly moments since the show's inception.
LBC's Steve Allen received more than 800 complaints after he called 2021 Strictly contestant Tilly Ramsay a "chubby little thing" live on air. A total of 840 complaints were registered to Ofcom, and according to The Daily Record, he has since issued a private apology to Tilly, who is Gordon Ramsay's 22-year-old daughter.
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Former footballer, Robbie Savage's now notorious crotch grab, comes in at second place after 325 Ofcom complaints were lodged about it. The Welsh sportsman, who was paired with Ola Jordan, was dancing to Michael Jackson's hit Bad when he jumped onto the judges' panel and thrust his hips at them before grabbing his crotch.
"I've had a bit of bad press this week," he told Digital Spy at the time. It's got me down, really, because, you know, my football career - people said nasty things about me, really. And I've just gone out there... If I offended anybody, I didn't mean to. I just went out there to have fun, and surely that's what it's about?"
In 2020, around 200 complaints were made over a same-sex dance between Graziano Di Prima and Johannes Radebe. Another 100 were made when the show announced Katya Jones and Nicola Adams would be dancing together for that same series. The complaints for that year's series didn't stop there. A drag performance celebrating Priscilla Queen of the Desert for Musicals Week amassed more than 100 complaints.
Another highly complained about moment came in 2008 when a voting error ruined the semi-final for viewers. When the episode ended, Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon tied at the top of the leaderboard, making the votes for third-placed Tom Chambers irrelevant. Almost 200 people filed Ofcom complaints.
Who can forget when Shirley Ballas looked uncomfortable when Bruno Tonioli 'grabbed' her breasts in 2017? The unexpected moment received 20 Ofcom complaints.
A TV source told The Mirror : "The BBC has now received formal complaints and will be officially looking into them to decide whether Bruno's behaviour was acceptable. He obviously thought it was light-hearted fun, but you could tell Tess was shocked by her reaction. She looked completely aghast."
Bruno's language got him in trouble in 2015 when he said the word b*****ks live on air. He shared: "Oh yeah, those are the bull's b*****ks!" The camera then panned to an open-mouthed audience, and Ofcom received 19 complaints.
A final stand-out moment was when singer Anastacia was unable to perform in the dance-off due to an injury in 2016. The show had to revert to a public vote, which saw Melvin Odoom go home instead. Ofcom later confirmed six people had made an official complaint.
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Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight on BBC One at 6.25pm for its Halloween Week special.
