BBC ‘rejected Downing Street’s request to delay the start time of Strictly Come Dancing’

The BBC reportedly refused to delay Strictly Come Dancing for Boris Johnson’s blocking national broadcast on Saturday night.

With barely a minute to spare, BBC One cut the Prime Minister’s long-delayed press conference to the dance show at 7.15pm, causing many fans to breathe a sigh of relief.

But it has now been claimed that Downing Street made a last-minute call to the broadcast house to address the nation after 7pm before being told the dance show was a “priority.”

Tension: The BBC reportedly refused to delay Strictly Come Dancing for the broadcast of Boris Johnson’s national shutdown on Saturday night (pictured is Maisie Smith)

In Boris’s speech, which was delayed from his original start time of 5 p.m. to around 6:30 p.m., it was announced that England will enter a second national lockdown starting Thursday, with shops, pubs and non-essential restaurants.

A source told The Sun: “Strictly, it’s a ratings beast for the BBC, so they were reluctant to change the schedule.

No one was afraid of having a confrontation with them, as Strictly is a priority for the channel.

Serious: With just a minute to spare, BBC 1 cut the Prime Minister’s long-delayed press conference to the dance show at 7.15pm, causing many fans to sigh in relief.

Boris’s team asked if the press conference could be moved beyond 7 p.m., but was sternly told that if that was the case, it would be broadcast on the news channel. His team relented and aired closer to the 6.30pm scheduled time.

“It was a victory for the BBC as they had already taken Little Mix The Search off the air and delaying the monster that is Strictly would have been chaos.”

A source also told MailOnline: “There was a conversation with Downing Street that the briefing would be at 6.45.”

The bottom line: But Downing Street has reportedly made a last-minute call to the broadcast house to address the nation after 7 p.m.)

Agreements: A source also told MailOnline: ‘There was a conversation with Downing Street that the briefing would be at 6.45’

The conference, which was watched by around 17 million viewers, overflowed and the BBC’s coverage was switched to its news channel just as Boris finished his part.

Some fans shared their concerns that the dance show would be delayed earlier in the night before the prime minister’s address to the nation.

Boris better not hold on strictly. I’m already furious because they won’t be doing Halloween week, ‘wrote one dance fan.

And another said, ‘You can take jobs from us, close deals, and keep us from our family, but don’t DARE to strictly delay Halloween Week, absolutely MONSTER!’

Scheduling: The conference, which was watched by around 17 million viewers, overflowed and the BBC’s coverage was switched to its news channel just as Boris finished his part.

Nick Robinson of BBC Radio 4 even tweeted that Number 10 was aware of Strictly’s impending start time before the show.

He tweeted: ‘Insiders insist there have been no problems. PM had to squeeze three days of preparation (calls, briefings, writing) for the big announcement in a few hours thanks to the leak of last night’s national shutdown. Not 10 very aware that @Strictly is on at 7.15pm. ‘

Fortunately, the show managed to start at 7.15pm and many people joked about how close it came to being rejected.

Relief! Fortunately, the show managed to start at 7.15pm and many people joked about how close it came to being rejected.