Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Artem Chigvintsev has called for a new voting system in order to stop shocking exits. Last weekend, viewers were left surprised when Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell became the third couple to leave this year's series – despite wowing the audiences and judges with their impressive routines. "Strictly is a matter of opinion, it all depends on how the judges feel and how the viewers feel," Artem told The Sun.
© Photo: BBCDev and Dianne were the third couple to leave Strictly
"There should be an understanding on what we are judging, are we judging personal improvement of each individual or the overall dance," he added. "In my opinion, the judges should stick to judging purely based on the dancing and it's the audience who should value the entertainment part of it and how much the person has improved." The professional dancer, who won the show in 2010 with actress Kara Tointon, went on to say that BBC bosses "should find a better balance".
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At the time of his departure, Radio 1 DJ Dev admitted he was devastated to be leaving, 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 a moving tribute to Dev, saying: "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."
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Appearing on Monday's It Takes Two, Dianne revealed their exit had not yet sunk in. "I was also in a lot of shock, I didn't think Dev would be in the bottom two for a while, if not at all. I thought he did a brilliant job on Saturday night and even better in the dance-off so I was so upset." She added: "I feel like I just promised Dev that we were going to be fine, then we weren't. Then we picked ourselves up and thought we would be safe if we just went out there. And we got great comments from the judges and just wanted Dev to be a bit more cheeky in the Cha, Cha, and I feel he did."
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