Most complained about Strictly Come Dancing moments from 'bulge' grab to 'chubby' jibe

Strictly Come Dancing has been a staple of the BBC schedule since 2004, but over the years, the show has sparked thousands of Ofcom complaints for a number of reasons

Strictly Come Dancing has waltzed back onto BBC One for an epic 20th series, and fans haven't missed a beat, eagerly tuning in by the millions each weekend to watch celebrity contestants shimmy and sway with their pro partners.

However, despite its rep as a bit of wholesome telly fun, it's had its fair share of jaw-dropping moments that have seen Strictly viewers lodging complaints to Ofcom left, right, and centre.

From Bruno Tonioli's seemingly cheeky boob graze on head judge Shirley Ballas to Robbie Savage's brazen crotch thrust at Craig Revel Horwood, some of these TV gold gaffes have definitely ruffled feathers. This year's dances have so far been controversy-free in terms of watchdog woes – but let's take a whirl through some top-tier contentious Strictly snippets to date.

LBC shock jock Steve Allen found himself under fire, racking up a hefty 800-plus complaints when he tossed out "chubby little thing" about 2021 contestant Tilly Ramsay on his show. With a flood of 840 gripes to Ofcom, and per The Daily Record, he's said to have texted her a sorry behind the scenes – Tilly being top chef Gordon Ramsay's 22 year old progeny.

Robbie Savage's infamous crotch stun ranks next, chalking up 325 complaints to Ofcom. The ex-footballer, who grooved with Ola Jordan, landed the complaints while performing to Michael Jackson's banger 'Bad', making headlines as he leapt onto the judges' desk, gyrating and then going for that eye-popping crotch grab.

"I've had a bit of bad press this week," he confessed to Digital Spy. "It's really got me down because, you know, during my football career, people said some pretty nasty things about me. And I've just gone out there... If I offended anyone, I didn't mean to. I just went out there to have fun, and surely that's what it's all about? " In 2020, around 200 complaints were lodged over a same-sex dance between Graziano Di Prima and Johannes Radebe, reports OK!.

An additional 100 were made when the show announced Katya Jones and Nicola Adams would be dancing together for that same series. The complaints for that year's series didn't stop there. A drag performance celebrating Priscilla Queen of the Desert for Musicals Week garnered more than 100 complaints.

Another highly complained about moment occurred in 2008 when a voting error spoiled the semi-final for viewers. When the episode ended, Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon tied at the top of the leaderboard, rendering the votes for third-placed Tom Chambers irrelevant. Almost 200 people filed Ofcom complaints.

Who can forget when Shirley Ballas looked uncomfortable when Bruno Tonioli 'grabbed' her breasts in 2017? The unexpected moment received 20 Ofcom complaints. A TV insider told The Mirror: "The BBC has now received formal complaints and will be officially looking into them to decide whether Bruno's behaviour was acceptable. He obviously thought it was light-hearted fun, but you could tell Tess was shocked by her reaction. She looked completely aghast."

In 2015, Bruno Tonioli found himself in hot water for swearing on live TV. He exclaimed, "Oh yeah, those are the bull's b*****ks! " to a shocked audience and triggered 19 Ofcom complaints. Another moment of controversy occurred in 2016 when singer Anastacia couldn't compete in the dance-off due to injury, resulting in a switch to public voting and Melvin Odoom's unexpected exit. That incident brought in six official complaints to Ofcom.

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