'Deadlock' For Strictly?

Could Strictly start using an X Factor-style 'deadlock' tiebreaker?

Speculation has been running rife since it was announced that head judge Len Goodman will be leaving the panel at the end of the upcoming series.

One suggestion is to take the 'deciding vote', which Len currently has in tied situations, away from the panel and turn it over to the public. If the judging panel are tied, the public vote would decide the winner.

A source told the Radio Times: "I would very much doubt that the new member of the panel would come in as Head Judge and have the final say. Darcey’s the most sensible out of all of them. Craig’s the harshest and Bruno – would he take it seriously? Out of those three you couldn’t help but think Darcey. But then Darcey hasn’t been in the show as long as the others... There's arguments for all of them."

The whole point of pooling the judges was avoid the 'John Sergeant Effect', where poor dancers were being voted through at the expense of those with more skill. But all that has really done is make viewers work even harder to save weaker dancers and keep them out of the bottom two altogether.

Deadlock is an interesting notion, and would expose the Jamelias - unpopular with the public but saved by the judges. But it could also lead to judges 'fence sitting', and forcing votes to deadlock so they do not look like the bad guy.