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Known as the notorious ‘Strictly Super Spoiler’, he has ruining the family favourite BBC dance show for over a decade by revealing the outcome of the dreaded ‘dance-off’ before Sunday night’s results show.
Despite calls to stop spoiling the fun for Strictly’s loyal fanbase, 45-year-old David Thorp remains undeterred and is set to continue sabotaging the 2025 series, which starts in September.
But now MailOnline can reveal exactly why the software engineer student, who lives in a £70,000 semi-detached home in Preston, Lancs, won’t stop sharing the results on his website anytime soon – and it’s all down to money.
Thorp is earning an astonishing £5,000 per month leaking results from the BBC1 show – which is more than some of the celebrity contestants are being paid to take part in the TV juggernaut.
Sources close to Thorp have told Mailonline he has a mole within the Strictly camp who secretly informs him of the outcome of the results show, which is filmed after the live main show on Saturday evening, but airs 24 hours later.
Cast, crew and audience members are sworn to secrecy not to reveal the result before the show airs, but Thorp’s insider continues to tell him which celebrity and dance partner is going home.
The insider also revealed Thorp’s money-making scheme looks set to continue as Strictly have not made any moves to shut his websites down – or threaten any sort of retribution for spoiling the show.
A friend told Mailonline: ‘The money Thorp is making from giving away the Strictly results is ridiculous.
‘He can sometimes earn up to £5,000 a month when the show is airing. On a bad month it’s around £3,000, but that’s not bad money for simply revealing a result and writing a bit of text around it.’
The source continued: ‘He has someone involved on the show leaking him the results and Strictly have no clue who it is.
‘They used to think it was audience members but Thorp still found out which celebrities had been voted out during the lockdown series, which was filmed at Elstree Studios without an audience.’
‘But bosses don’t seem too concerned as they haven’t tried to stop him.
‘He’s had no legal threats or even just a polite request to stop spoiling the result.
‘So I imagine he’ll just keep on going.’
The BBC declined to comment when asked by MailOnline if they have attempted to stop him from leaking the result.
But a show insider admitted the weekly spoiler is incredibly infuriating for all those concerned with the show.
The insider said: ‘It just ruins it for everyone.
‘It’s obviously a huge part of Strictly, the actual competition aspect, and viewers love the jeopardy of whether or not their favourite dancers will remain on the show.
‘And the BBC appreciate it also affects the viewing figures, as some fans won’t tune it if they already know who’s leaving.
‘But they seem powerless in stopping the Strictly super spoiler – and clearly have no idea who the leak is.
‘So this is going to run and run unfortunately.’
The insider added: ‘Changing the format to just one big show would end the result being ruined but there’s not a change that will be happening.
‘Strictly is so huge it would leave a gapping hole in Sunday’s schedule if they didn’t have a dedicated results episode.
‘That’s why bosses insist on having a big music act performing to ensure so the Sunday show remains a big spectacle – hoping those who know the outcome may still tune it.’
MailOnline revealed in 2022 the identity of the ‘Strictly super spoiler’, who has been publishing the identity of the axed pairings on his website Strictly Spoiler every Saturday evening since 2012.
Thorp, who’s married to wife Angie, 31, insists he’s not taking the fun out of the show, saying there’s ‘appetite’ for viewers to know the result as soon as it’s available.
And he also blames the BBC for not doing two live shows, to prevent leaks from happening.
Thorp told MailOnline: ‘I’m just providing a service and am not spoiling anyone’s enjoyment.
‘I don’t put the results for everyone to see and they have to search for my site to find out the results.
‘There is an appetite from people who want to know the results before Sunday.
‘It could be argued that the BBC is to blame for recording something which is of massive interest the day before.’
Thorp claims he doesn’t have one ”source’ and he learns the result each week from various audience members, despite what insiders say.
He explains: ‘I find out the result by audience members there on the night contacting me or from the other strictly spoiler sites around.’
Thorp has also garnered over 50,000 followers on X and over 7,000 on Instagram.
His website is now being used for advertisement, which is how he pulls in the money, and fans that interact with him about the show have a chance of winning a £20 Amazon voucher.
He said: ‘People would contact me, and I would direct message them the results but so many people began asking I had to put it on a website I was operating.
‘It just got bigger and bigger, and I have around 400,000 people viewing the website each week.
‘I send out a link on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and people have to actively click on the link.
‘I don’t just post it for everyone to see. Only the ones who want to know the results earlier go on to it.’
