Strictly Come Dancing bosses were forced to extend voting time after a technical glitch left viewers furious.
The quarter final of the BBC show saw Karim Zeroual and his dance partner Amy Dowden were awarded the first perfect 40 of the competition in the Musicals themed week.
But after the programme ended at 8.10pm and presenter Claudia Winkleman declared voting open, angry viewers were flooding Twitter with complaints.
Difficult: Strictly Come Dancing bosses were forced to extend voting time after a technical glitch left viewers furious (pictured: Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly presented the show)
Some couldn’t get on to vote while others received messages saying they had already used their vote when they hadn’t.
The show announced on its Twitter page and that the voting deadline would be extended until 9pm from the original 8.40pm.
But some furious fans demanded that this week’s votes be ‘null and void’, with one saying: ‘The online vote was a shambles… please restore the faith and do the right thing and put them all through’.
Another said: ‘How many people have given up their right to vote after the horrendous problems experienced earlier?
After the programme ended at 8.10pm and presenter Claudia Winkleman declared voting open, angry viewers were flooding Twitter with complaints
‘This week’s voting is bound to be an inaccurate picture from that that would have been had all worked as it should do [sic].
‘Unhappy that not all my votes were allowed to be cast’.
A third complained that the voting extension was only announced on social media.
They wrote: ‘I’ve only just had the opportunity to check the website again & votes are now closed.
‘My ‘would have been’ votes wont be counted now. Did you announce the voting extension anywhere other than Twitter, for those that dont follow Social Media?’
Other fans noted that they were able to vote several times while the glitch was going on.
One, Suzi Haigh, said: ‘My husband and I managed to vote 10 times during the technical difficulties.
‘Which will be counted or will you count them all?’
The glitch followed a show in which Karim Zeroual and his dance partner Amy Dowden were awarded the first perfect 40 of the competition.
The dancing duo were performing the Jive to Hairspray’s You Can’t Stop The Beat and finally managed to get judge Craig Revel Horwood to lift the coveted 10 panel.
Following the live performance, the dancing partnership were immediately given a ten from Motsi who claimed that she couldn’t sit down following their performance.
While referencing their time in the bottom two last week, Shirley admitted that this week’s routine was ‘amazing’ and Bruno said that the dance was ‘mind-blowing’.
Smashed it! The glitch followed a show in which Karim Zeroual and his dance partner Amy Dowden were awarded the first perfect 40 of the competition
We’re happy: Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Bassey, Motsi Mabuse and Bruno Tonioli were delighted the dancing couple’s performance
He added that their dance was the best Jive the show had ever seen.
Foreshadowing Karim’s impending full marks, rather than giving comments on the dance, Craig stood up and gave the children’s TV presenter a standing ovation.
When the couple headed backstage they were awarded 10s from all four judges, marking the first time a couple have received a perfect score this series.
Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse were just behind the pair with a score of 39, which was the same as garnered by Emma Barton and Anton du Beke.
And Chris Ramsay and Karen Clifton narrowly made it into fourth place with a score of 28 points, one ahead of Alex Scott and Neil Jones.
Yippee! Karim and Amy were overcome with joy at the maximum score
