BBC forced to defend Strictly Come Dancing over Tameka Empson ‘racism row’

'Judges judge the dancing and the dancing alone,' a spokesperson said
Eliminated: Tameka Empson became the second celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing 2016
Guy Levy/BBC
Ben Travis11 October 2016

The BBC has defended Strictly Come Dancing amid accusations of racism.

The show has come under fire after EastEnders actress Tameka Empson became the second celebrity – and the second black contestant in a row – to be voted out of the competition.

Empson had received positive marks from the judges, scoring 28 points out of 40.

The previous week also saw the audience place DJ Melvin Odoom in the bottom two. He was then eliminated when fellow competitor Anastacia was unable to take part in the dance-off due to an injury.

With two of the show's three black contestants sent home in the first two eliminations, some viewers accused voters of ‘targeting’ black participants to remove them from the competition.

A spokesperson defended the BBC’s role in Empson and Odoom’s departure, telling The Guardian: “Judges judge the dancing and the dancing alone, not anything else.”

The BBC declined to comment when approached by the Evening Standard Online on Sunday night.

Speaking on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday night, Empson broke down in tears and said she was “surprised” to have left the show so soon.

Strictly Come Dancing 2016

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"I was surprised," she said. "I really thought I put all the right moves in and I never put a foot wrong. I had pain in my back but I used that to drive through."

She continued: "I'm going to keep dancing. I love to learn different dances and now I can fling down a paso doble. If I can, I'm going to try and bring a little something to EastEnders.”

The next Strictly Come Dancing live show airs on BBC One, Saturday, 6.30pm.

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