RULES OF STRUCTLY COME DANCING ('THE COMPETITION')

1. Structure of the competition

1.1 The competition shall consist of eight episodes (hereafter referred to as 'episodes').

1.2 Ten couples shall compete in the competition.

1.2.1 Each couple shall consist of one person deemed by the producers to fulfil the definition of a 'celebrity' (hereafter 'the celebrity') paired according to the producers' whim with a professional (hereafter 'the professional'). The pairings do not change for the duration of the competition.

1.3 At the end of each episode except the final episode (hereafter 'the final'), one couple shall sadly be eliminated, and the non-eliminated couples shall compete in the subsequent episode.

1.3.1 In the final, one of the three remaining couples shall be declared the winner.

1.4 Four judges (hereafter 'the Judges') shall appear throughout the competition.

2. Structure of an episode

2.1 In each episode, every couple shall perform a dance of duration not exceeding two minutes, as devised by the professional, set to music in accordance with an arbitrary theme.

2.2 Upon the completion of each couple's dance, the dance shall be rated by each judge separately on an integer scale from ONE to TEN inclusive, indicated by the raising of a novelty golden paddle bearing the appropriate integer.

2.3 Upon the completion of the judging of the final couple's dance, viewers of the programme (hereafter 'the audience') shall be invited to vote for their preferred couple, via the medium of telephoning a specified number.

2.3.1 The telephone number associated with each couple shall not change throughout the duration of the competition. The telephone numbers shall be displayed prominently on screen during the episode, and shall be posted on various social media platforms by the producers.

2.4 Upon the completion of the invitation to vote, there shall be a series of diversions unrelated to the competition (hereafter 'the filler'), including but not limited to musical performances by singer Olly Murs and by the cast of the West End musical 'Six'. Upon conclusion of the filler, the audience shall be advised that voting has closed.

2.5 Upon the completion of the filler, two couples determined according to the procedure described in Section 3 of this document shall be required to each perform a further dance (collectively referred to hereafter as 'the dance-off').

2.5.1 In the final, the winner is determined directly from the procedure described in Section 3 of this document, without recourse to the dance-off.

2.6 Upon completion of the dance-off, the judges shall determine which of the two couples participating in the dance-off shall be eliminated.

2.6.1 The decision of the judges on which couple to eliminate shall be based solely on the judges' evaluation of the couples' performance in the dance-off and not on any previous performance, ongoing feud or recent tabloid accusations of marital infidelity.

3. Scoring rules within an episode

3.1 Each week, the judges' scores and the telephone votes cast are used to award points to the couples according to the following procedure.

3.2 For each couple, the judges' scores are totalled to produce an overall score out of FORTY (hereafter the 'Judges' total'). The couples are ranked according to these scores, the couple with the lowest judges' total being awarded one point. For each place higher up the ranking a couple is placed they are awarded an additional point, so that the couple with the highest judges' total is awarded a number of points equal to the number of couples remaining in the competition.

3.2.1 If two or more couples receive the same judges' total, all such couples receive the number of points associated with the highest of the ranks that those couples jointly occupy.

3.3 The couples are again ranked, this time according to the number of valid phone votes they have received that week. The couple with the fewest phone votes receives one point. For each place higher up the ranking a couple is placed they are awarded an additional point, so that the couple receiving the largest number of valid phone votes that week is awarded a number of points equal to the number of couples remaining in the competition.

3.3.2 Due to the exceptional popularity of the competition and the very large number of phone votes cast as a result of this, the producers do not anticipate a situation where two couples receive the same number of phone votes in a week. No measures have been implemented to deal with such a situation.

3.4 The final ranking of couples is based on the total number of points awarded to couples from the judges' scores and the telephone votes as described above. The two couples ranked lowest shall be required to participate in the dance-off.

3.4.1 In the event of a tie in this ranking, the points awarded from the phone votes shall be considered to take priority.

3.4.2 In the final, the couple placed highest in this ranking shall be declared the winner and shall receive a trophy shaped so as to resemble a rotating light-reflecting sphere as might be found suspended from the ceiling in a dancing venue.

4. Telephone voting eligibility criteria

4.1 Any votes that are received before the initial invitation to vote or after the advisement that voting has closed (as described in 2.4 and 2.5) shall not be counted (but may still be charged).

4.2 Any votes that are received for a couple that has been eliminated in a previous episode shall also not be counted (but may still be charged).