The professionals on Strictly Come Dancing are reportedly asking bosses not to book any social media stars for the next series and create a “level playing field”.
It is believed the pros will make the demand citing the unfair advantage that Instagram and YouTube celebs supposedly have on the BBC competition.
It follows the success that YouTuber Joe Sugg, brother of vlogger Zoella, enjoyed during his stint on Strictly in 2018 alongside pro partner Dianne Buswell.
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According to The Sun, a source in the know said: “[Joe] wasn’t the best dancer, so his place on the show was purely based on his fanbase.
“Joe’s huge popularity caused some tension last year after he was being voted to stay in the show each week.”
They continued: “Now the pros are going to unite and ask for no social media personalities for a year, to give everyone a level playing field.”
Joe’s main YouTube channel, ThatcherJoe, was set up in 2011 and now has more than 8.1 million subscribers.
His other two channels, ThatcherJoeVlogs and ThatcherJoeGames, are collectively followed by 5.5 million people.
His popularity is just as immense on his other social platforms, including Twitter, where he has 5.5 million followers, and Instagram, where he has 5.7 million.
Joe and Dianne never ended up in the bottom two and it was clean sailing through to the final, where they were eventually beaten to the Glitterball trophy by documentary maker Stacey Dooley and pro Kevin Clifton.
Their success continued when they embarked on the Strictly live tour and won a record 25 consecutive shows.
Rumours of romance between the pair surfaced after they were reportedly spotted kissing at the show’s glitzy after-party in Blackpool.
They denied the kiss ever happened and Metro confirmed that the reports were false.
But once the show was over in December, Joe and Diane confirmed their relationship on Instagram.
Read more: Strictly finalist Joe Sugg sparks engagement rumours in cute snap with Dianne Buswell
Joe posted a snap of the two of them gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes, and told his followers that, although he hadn’t managed to win the Glitterball, he’d won something “a million times more special”.
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