Strictly Come Dancing has been hit with claims of a fix. Sunday night saw Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell axed from the competition after losing out in a dance off to Emma Weymouth and Aljaz Skorjanec, who the judges voted to save. A short time later, fans took to Twitter to share their disappointment – and claim they were unable to get through on the phones. "@bbcstrictly your phone lines for Dev and Dianne were down yet you allow them to be voted out??? Just disgusting. I have no words," one viewer tweeted. A second wrote: "Please, please complain to @bbcstrictly if you had an issue with your phone votes for @dev_101 and dbuzz6589 last night! Seems so unfair." A third remarked: "If Dev and Di are out this week it's because of the unfair scoring and the phone line not working. Tonight's show was an absolute fail."
Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell have become the third couple to leave Strictly
But a fourth argued: "Just want to put it out there... it's kinda normal for phone lines to crash when they're overwhelmed all at once. It's not a BBC thing, it's a phone line thing. I'm on your side but my dad has taught me this as he works with telephones #strictlyspoiler #strictly." A message posted on the official Strictly Twitter page on Saturday night seemed to confirm this: "There's a high volume of calls tonight, so if you don't get through the first time, keep trying. And remember you can vote online."
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Upon learning his fate, Radio 1 DJ Dev admitted he was devastated to be leaving the BBC show, telling Tess Daly: "I'm not going to lie I am absolutely gutted, but learning how to dance, hanging out with Dianne and the other pros and celebs… I've absolutely loved it." Dianne, who made it to the final last year with celebrity partner and boyfriend Joe Sugg, was also visibly upset. But she paid moving tribute to Dev, telling Tess: "Dev has been absolutely amazing. His work ethic is insane. I see him everywhere practising and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner. Thank you so much for all your time and your effort. This boy has so much talent, I'm really sad he won't be able to show you guys any more of it."
Fans have shared their disappointment following the pair's exit
Dianne has since taken to Instagram to share her upset. Alongside a photo of the pair together, she wrote: "My heart is broken. This guy had so much to give and worked sooooo hard I’m so sorry your journey was cut short you have done me so proud. Every week you would say you just didn't want to let me down," she added. "Dev you sooo didn't you were a dream to teach and you were turning into such a great dancer thank you so much for everything."