Strictly Come Dancing producers will disclose which order Gemma Atkinson, Debbie McGee and Alexandra Burke came in the finale of 2017's competition. The show will release the information following a Freedom of Information request of show viewer who wanted to know who came second, third and fourth after Joe McFadden and Katya Jones took home the Glitter Ball trophy. In December, they wrote: "Under the FOI you are requested to provide the voting figures for each of the final four Strictly Come Dancing candidates 2017."
© Photo: BBCViewers have requested the voting figures
The Information Commissioner's Office then issued a notice requiring the BBC to respond to the request or possibly being reported to the High Court. However, a spokesperson for the BBC has since told the Daily Mail that the show can retain the information for the purposes of "art, journalism and literature… 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."
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© Photo: BBCJoe won the 2017 series
Fans were quick to discuss their own opinions on the matter, with one tweeting: "This is such a bizarre thing for the BBC to dig its heels in over. They released the results for many years, and have no qualms about revealing who comes bottom every single week. #strictly," while another added: "It's about time BBC revealed the full voting results for Strictly. Their reason for not doing so is to avoid influencing viewers. Fair enough. So do what ITV do with X Factor & publish after the end of the series. People are paying to vote. Transparency." Strictly will return for a new series this year, and speaking about the series, Craig Revel Horwood said: "Shirley is back with us, which will be great. Bruno is back and being more Italian than ever. And of course the fabulous Darcey Bussell. I think it is a great team and it was really good last year, I can't wait to get back into it."
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