A press release just in:
The producers of SABC2's Strictly Come Dancing have confirmed that an electronic calculation error during last night's live show (20 November 2008) resulted in the wrong couple (Garth Collins & Hayley Bennett) being eliminated from the show.
This is the first time in the show’s history that such an error has occurred.
Garth and Hayley were pitted erroneously against 5FM’s Anele Mdoda and partner Brandon Eilers Le Riche in the dance-off. Tessa van Duuren and Grant Esterhuizen is the couple that should’ve been in the dance-off against Anele and Brandon.
As the end credits rolled, producers discovered the error with the formula used to consolidate viewer votes and judges’ scores – while they were still busy conducting their standard verification checks on the results.
"Episode 8 in the series is the most challenging, as we have to cover 10 dances under extreme time pressure, which all compounded last night to create the perfect storm", explained executive producer Kee-Leen Irvine from Rapid Blue.
"Production along with auditors have only a few minutes to establish the ranking, and votes are so close that there are positional changes up to the last minute.
"The electronic formula used to calculate the scores and ranking was not updated from last week’s episode – meaning that the wrong formula was used to enter the points and calculate the final score.
"We always do a hand-check with the auditors as well to verify the results, but by the time we discovered the error, the credits were already rolling.”
As a result, the producers have reinstated Garth and Hayley, who will return to the show next week. The exact format and elimination procedure of the show will then be revealed. All votes from this week will be added to next week’s.
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