Its analysis of BBC accounts found that the licence fee evasion rate is now at 12.5%, costing it up to £550m. The number of households to state they have no need for a licence, because they do not consume BBC content, has risen from 2.4m in 2021 to 3.6m this year. That equates to a loss of up to £617m from potential fees. Despite making nearly 2m visits to unlicensed homes last year, prosecutions fell by 17% in 2024.

The arrest is understood to relate to last year’s show and not the current series. The individual has not been named and the news comes just two months after a different star was arrested on suspicion of rape and “non-consensual intimate image abuse,” which also did not relate to this current series. The Sun reported that the man was arrested last month and the woman who claims she was assaulted was not a contestant or pro dancer on the show.