Could Strictly Have Five Judges?

The Sun reports that Strictly bosses are considering adding two new judges to the panel, not just one to replace Len.

They suggest that any new judge would not have the seniority to have the 'deciding vote' that Len has as head judge, so adding a fifth judge would guarantee a split vote.

A source told the paper: "There is a feeling without Len’s calming measured influence the panel might need a fifth judge to stop there being a deadlock and casting vote. It is an idea that has been discussed privately. The plan would be for Anton - or the other judge - to join the panel and the other judge to join for the results show to stop there being a need for a casting vote currently used by Len.”

Having five on the panel for the main show would be a mistake. It would mean that not all of the judges have time to give comments. Adding a fifth judge for the results show only seems an odd solution. Why would the public respect the opinion of someone who is only there to vote?

I would think that if they don't want to give the casting vote to a judge, then they should adopt the 'deadlock' mechanism used on The X Factor. This would also give the power back to the voting public, who are often frustrated by the judges' decisions. However, I would caveat that by saying that the judges must 'lock in' their votes before they are given, so that none of the judges can cop-out and deliberately send the vote to deadlock to avoid looking like the bad guy.