Sky Apologises For Phone Vote Problem

Sky has apologised after Sky One show Cirque de Celebrite suffered a “technical fault” on Sunday which meant that some public votes were not counted.

Sunday’s show saw ex-footballer Dean Holdsworth voted off, however, he has now been invited to return after Sky admitted a fault in the voting.

Viewers vote for which celebrity is booted off the programme either by phone or via the red button on their remotes.

The satellite broadcaster has apologised to viewers and offered a full refund, as well as announcing that it is to make a donation to charity.

A Sky spokesman said: “On Sunday night’s Cirque de Celebrité, there was a technical fault with the voting which meant that some of the votes received were not counted towards the final result. Sky is taking immediate action to remedy the situation.

“Voting in Cirque de Celebrité is all about enhancing the viewer experience and all revenues received by Sky as a result of the votes on the show go to charity.”

Cirque de Celebrité, presented by Jenni Falconer, airs on Sky One on Sundays at 7.30pm.

This latest phone-in mix-up comes shortly after GMTV was fined a record £2 million for misconduct after it ran a competition where winners were selected before the competition had closed (see GMTV Given £2 Million Fine).

In July, following a spate of phone-in scandals not involving Sky, Ofcom published the results of an inquiry into premium rate phone services which found “systemic failures” in premium rate phone-in services on TV (see Ofcom Finds ‘Systemic Failures’ In Premium Rate Phone-In Services).

Sky: 08702 40 40 40 www.sky.com