I leak Strictly Come Dancing spoilers – the BBC only contacted me once-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro

We uncover the double life of the Strictly Come Dancing results spoiler… (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Each weekend, hundreds of thousands of Strictly Come Dancing fans eagerly await the reveal of the latest eliminated couple – but not from the official results show.

With the Sunday results pre-recorded after the main show each Saturday, viewers would be left to sweat nervously while not knowing if their favourite stars were safe if it weren’t for one man.

Enter Dave Thorp, the brains behind StrictlySpoiler, a website dedicated to leaking the results each week before the BBC has a chance to air them.

His website garners up to 500,000 views at times, and many Strictly fanatics subscribe to his Patreon or PayPal service. This allows Dave to pursue StrictlySpoiler full-time while studying.

In an exclusive chat with Metro, he lifts the lid on his double life and reveals what happened the one and only time the BBC contacted him — and it might not be for the reason you’d expect.

He explains how StrictlySpoiler was born: ‘It was a little bit of an accident. I was originally a member of a spoiler thread on a discussion forum and mentioned on Twitter that I had the spoiler.

The BBC airs prerecorded results each Sunday night (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock)

Hundreds of thousands of fans seek out the spoiler, unable to cope with the tension (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

‘I would get people on there asking me to DM them the results, which I did. Eventually, it got to a point where quite a few people were asking, so I put the spoiler on a blog that I was running at the time, linked to it on Twitter, and a couple of years later I got a Google search ranking, and it just snowballed from there.’

Dave began his blog in 2012 and by 2014 he was getting thousands of views, describing his rise to internet prominence as ‘crazy’.

For the past decade, it has been widely reported that the BBC tears its hair out each weekend over Dave’s antics, with sources claiming they’re outraged by him leaking the spoiler for anyone to access.

However, Dave is keen to set the record straight.

‘There was one occasion in 2015 when [the BBC] claimed the Facebook page that I operate infringed upon their trademarks and got Facebook to temporarily take it down, but I appealed that, and the BBC relented and got Facebook to restore the page.

‘That was literally the last time I had any contact with them. I think they’re just happy to maintain the status quo now.’

The man behind StrictlySpoiler insists there’s no beef between him and the Beeb (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)

He’s been able to make a living out of leaking the results (Picture: PA Wire)

He adds that the only thing that would make him stop what he’s doing is if the BBC were to air live results shows, but he can’t see that happening anytime soon.

‘I think the last time the BBC ran live results on Strictly was 2009, so that’s probably not on the cards. I think the BBC just accepts that if you’re prerecording something the day before it goes out, it’s going to leak, unfortunately.’

Assuring us that he’s not ‘anti-BBC’, he insists that, by leaking the results, he is able to ease viewers’ anxiety as they head into Sunday night’s episode feeling less stressed when those dreaded red lights appear.

So, how exactly does he do it?

‘There are a couple of other sources I work quite closely with, such as Facebook groups. Normally, between us we have one, two, maybe three moles in the audience, so it’s quite easy to verify the information that one of us gets against what another mole is saying and then confirm it that way.

‘With regards to sourcing moles, I have quite a wide social reach now with about 35,000 people on my Facebook page, so I’ll put an appeal out and someone will get in touch if they have audience tickets.’

Chris McCausland has wowed as Strictly’s first-ever blind contestant this series (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Tasha Ghouri has topped the leaderboard too (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Pete Wicks is predicted to be a dark horse (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Should there be a delay in verifying the results, for whatever reason, Dave relies on backup moles, which can result in the StrictlySpoiler only being posted on Sunday morning. He does not, however, disclose their identity.

Despite some backlash on social media and claims that Dave is ‘ruining’ the magic of Strictly, the overall consensus is that he’s doing audiences a favour. To the trolls, he reminds people that they must actively seek out the spoiler themselves, as he never posts it directly to X.

Because of this community he’s created, Dave can display ads on his website, which, despite sometimes costing thousands to run mid-Strictly season, is able to fund his lifestyle rather nicely.

‘This kind of is my job. For the rest of the year, I’m studying software engineering at university,’ he shares, adding that all the media attention surrounding what he does is ‘perplexing’ at times’.

‘The attention has been thrust upon me, as this wasn’t something I deliberately set out to do; it just accidentally happened and has been snowballing ever since.’

Millions tune in each weekend to get the latest dose of dazzling Strictly action (Picture: BBC Studios/Ray Burmiston)

Plenty also still tune into the not-live Sunday results, where the professional dancers take to the floor (Picture: Kieron McCarron/VBBC/PA Wire)

Strictly Come Dancing 2024 has attracted millions of viewers, all captivated by the performances of the cast, from Chris McCausland, Strictly’s first-ever blind contestant, to Tasha Ghouri, their first cochlear implant user.

Others smashing it out of the park include Miranda actress Sarah Hadland, EastEnders’ Jamie Borthwick, JLS pop star JB Gill, and podcaster Pete Wicks.

The BBC declined to comment when contacted.

Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday and Sunday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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