Strictly Come Dancing was dealt a devastating blow live on television, with fans remarking that "nobody has said that before". On Jeremy Vine's Channel 5 show, Telegraph critic William Sitwell insisted Strictly should not be on the BBC at all, blasting the latest round of cuts announced by the publicly funded broadcaster.
BBC Cuts Under Fire
This week, the BBC confirmed it would axe BBC Scotland, BBC Three and BBC Radio 4 Extra from its linear programming and go online-only, but Sitwell insisted: "They're cutting the wrong things". Instead, he suggested shows like Strictly and The Traitors should be shown on "commercial TV".
On the show, he argued: "The idea of [cutting] The World Tonight is absolutely appalling. The diminishing of Newsnight."
"Why they're doing [Radio] One Extra Anthems… I don't even really see the point in Radio One. Why are they doing BBC Three, phoney Classic FM to destroy Classic FM, I think that's appalling."
Entertainment Shows Should Move
Vine quizzed him: "Is there anything you wouldn't cut? Because you've pretty much gone through everything there. You want The World Tonight-" as Sitwell clarified: "It's criminal that they're cutting those things."
He argued he wants to keep Radio 4 news, but added: "I don't think they should be doing things like Strictly, I don't think they should be doing things like Traitors.
"I think these big entertainment shows should be on commercial TV, and they should be doing the [stuff to] educate, inform – the serious stuff."
Playing devil's advocate, Vine argued: "Isn't the idea of the BBC - he said, trying to sound impartial about his own employer – that you create The Traitors and Strictly, people come in through that and then they see Attenborough?"
Viewers React
Sitwell replied: "No, they don't, because the whole point is people's viewing habits have changed. You watch single things. The BBC has gone down this route now where you have an a la carte menu, which actually destroys the whole point."
Vine mused: "Maybe channels are over. Maybe we need to think big here, that we don't need BBC One, Two, Three, we don't need anything. We just need the iPlayer, that's all you need. Because TV now isn't a channel anymore.
"Although for my mum, who's 87, it very much is. You turn on the TV and you see what's on. That's how she operates."
Viewers were divided on social media, with one X user tweeting: "Don't know if anyone has ever argued for MORE adverts on a TV show before!" Someone else said: "Another privileged middle-class guest on the Vine show, giving us their views and opinions… yawn."
Another social media user said: "With shows such as Strictly where BBC owns the format, this makes sense since it has been sold internationally and makes the BBC huge amounts, however for imported/externally produced shows where the BBC makes no money out of the sale of the format (as per Traitors), there may be a greater argument as was the case when GBBO moved to Channel 4."
Another posted: "The BBC should inform, educate and entertain. In what way does Strictly or Traitors not do the last of that criteria?"
