BBC favourites getting preferential treatment while others struggle
Each autumn, the sequins and spotlights of Strictly Come Dancing invite the nation into a ritual of judgment — but this season, the question of who decides and why has moved from the living room to the backstage corridor. Allegations that Love Island's Zara McDermott and EastEnders' Bobby Brazier enjoy preferential treatment as 'BBC favourites' have unsettled the show's foundational promise: that merit and public will alone determine who stays and who goes. The controversy touches something older than television — our enduring unease with the gap between the appearance of fairness and the machinery behind it.
- Show insiders have broken ranks, describing McDermott and Brazier as institutional favourites in a competition that presents itself as purely democratic.
- McDermott's survival of the dance-off despite visibly shaky performances has left fellow contestants and viewers questioning whether the scoring reflects what they are actually watching.
- On Reddit, fans have assembled a troubling historical pattern — each season, a young female contestant appears to absorb disproportionate public votes against her, eroding her confidence week by week.
- Others challenge the narrative, arguing that voting mechanics reward preference rather than punish individuals, and that McDermott's bottom-two placements may simply reflect her relative skill level.
- McDermott's visible emotional distress during dance-offs has made the debate feel human and urgent, whatever its ultimate cause.
- The season presses on unresolved, with the tension between institutional influence and viewer sovereignty now as much a part of the show as the dancing itself.
Backstage at Strictly Come Dancing, quiet whispers have grown into something harder to ignore. Two names keep surfacing among crew and contestants: Zara McDermott, the Love Island alumna turned documentary maker, and Bobby Brazier, known to EastEnders audiences. According to insiders, both are receiving treatment their fellow competitors are not — a designation one source bluntly called being 'BBC favourites.'
The allegation carries particular weight because Strictly's entire structure rests on the premise that public votes and judges' scores determine outcomes. When McDermott survived the dance-off this past weekend despite a performance many considered shaky, the reaction spread beyond fans at home to the contestants themselves, who understand the weekly standard more intimately than anyone.
McDermott's path through the competition has been turbulent. She has faced the dance-off more than once, and each survival has renewed the question of why her and not someone else. Meanwhile, on Reddit, fans began mapping what they described as a recurring pattern: each season, a young female contestant — Ashley Roberts, Molly King, Fleur East — seems to absorb concentrated public votes against her, losing confidence week after week.
Not everyone accepted the premise. Some pointed out that voting rewards favourites rather than punishes targets, making any 'targeting' an indirect consequence of preference. Others argued that McDermott's placements might simply reflect her actual standing relative to stronger dancers still in the competition.
What no one disputed was the emotional reality. McDermott's visible struggle to hold back tears during her dance-offs registered with viewers regardless of its cause. The favouritism allegation added a sharper edge — the suggestion that institutional backing, not public will, was quietly shaping a competition millions believe they control. As the season continues, Strictly finds itself hosting two contests at once: one on the dance floor, and one about who the show truly belongs to.
Backstage at Strictly Come Dancing, whispers have turned into something louder. Two names keep surfacing in conversations between crew and contestants: Zara McDermott, the Love Island alumna now working as a documentary maker, and Bobby Braziel, who plays a character on EastEnders. According to people working on the show, these two are getting treatment the others aren't.
The allegation is straightforward enough. A show insider described them as "BBC favourites," the kind of designation that carries weight in an environment where every elimination is supposed to hinge on public voting and judges' scores. When McDermott avoided the dance-off this past weekend, despite what some saw as a shaky performance, eyebrows went up. Not just among fans watching at home, but among her fellow contestants, who would know better than anyone what the standard looks like week to week.
McDermott is dancing with Graziano di Prima. Braziel has been paired with Dianne Buswell and has performed solidly enough that his presence in the competition feels less controversial. But McDermott's journey has been rougher. She's made it to the dance-off more than once, and each time she's survived, the question lingers: why her, and not someone else?
On Reddit, where Strictly fans congregate to dissect every performance and voting decision, a pattern emerged in the conversation. Users began cataloging what they saw as a recurring phenomenon: each season, the public seems to fixate on one young female contestant and vote her into the bottom two repeatedly. Ashley Roberts and her partner Pasha Kovalev. Molly King with Carlos Gu. Fleur East paired with Vito Coppola. The list stretched back seasons. One commenter described watching this happen as painful—seeing a young woman lose confidence week after week, visibly struggling not to cry as she realized the public wasn't voting for her.
But the conversation fractured from there. Some users pushed back on the premise itself. One pointed out that voting works differently than the theory suggested—people vote for contestants they want to see, not against those they want to eliminate. The targeting, if it existed, would be indirect, a byproduct of preference rather than malice. Others questioned whether McDermott even belonged in that historical category. She wasn't a trained dancer like Roberts had been. The bottom-two placements, some argued, might simply reflect her actual performance level relative to others still in the competition.
What remained unresolved was the emotional toll. McDermott's visible distress during her dance-offs was real enough that viewers noticed and felt it. Whether that distress came from unfair public voting, from the natural pressure of competition, or from the gap between her own expectations and her actual skill level on the dance floor—that question hung in the air. The favouritism allegation, meanwhile, suggested a different culprit entirely: that the system itself was rigged, that some contestants had institutional backing that others didn't, that the BBC's own preferences were shaping outcomes that were supposed to be determined by viewers at home.
As the season continued, the controversy served as a reminder that Strictly, for all its glitter and choreography, was also a space where questions of fairness, merit, and institutional power played out in real time, visible to millions.
Notable Quotes
Bobby and Zara are very much seen as 'BBC favourites' by their Strictly co-stars. After she was saved there were more than a few eyebrows raised backstage.— Show insider
You could genuinely see she was trying her best not to cry. It's almost as if every year the public selects a target and that poor girl just slowly starts to lose confidence in herself.— Reddit user discussing McDermott's emotional toll
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would the BBC favour two specific contestants over others? What would they gain?
It's not necessarily a calculated thing. These two have existing profiles—McDermott from Love Island, Braziel from EastEnders. The BBC already has relationships with them, knows how to market them. There's less risk in their success.
But the voting is supposed to be public. How does backstage preference translate to who survives elimination?
That's the question everyone's asking. Either it doesn't, and the insider is just venting about perceived bias that doesn't actually affect outcomes. Or there are subtle ways—editing choices, airtime, how judges frame feedback—that nudge things without being obvious.
The Reddit users seemed split on whether McDermott was even being unfairly treated. Some said she's just not as good as the others.
Right. That's the trap. Once you're in the dance-off repeatedly, it becomes hard to separate what's real from what feels unfair. She might genuinely be struggling. But if you're watching her cry backstage, it's natural to wonder if the system is stacked against her.
Is there any way to actually know if favouritism is happening?
Not really. Voting data is private. You'd need to see patterns so extreme they couldn't be explained by chance or merit. What you have instead is a feeling among people on set, and fans noticing historical patterns. That's enough to raise questions, but not enough to prove anything.