Judge Rinder producers stand accused of looking for ‘entertainers’ for their show in a bid to boost ratings.
The popular ITV courtroom show, starring criminal law barrister Robert Rinder as the titular judge, airs every weekday on ITV and sees small claims cases put before a studio courtroom.
And while the series is supposed to be about people being owed money, one man has claimed the show has been touting for entertaining characters and ‘DJs’.
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According to Steve Colledge, who appeared on the series last month, researchers for the show have been sending out Facebook posts looking for “DJs and entertainers who are looking for TV opportunities”.
Himself a DJ karaoke host and close-up magician, Steve replied to the advert wanting to know more.
He told the Mirror: “I told [an ITV executive] I’m a magician and have parrots and do magic with the parrots.”
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Steve went on to say: “He asked ‘does anyone owe you money?’. I said ‘no’. He said ‘do you owe anyone else money or anything else like that?’.
“He kind of went down the lines of that for a while then dropped the bombshell he was looking for someone for Judge Rinder.”
Steve told ITV a real story about his parrots defecating on his neighbour Samantha and Paddy’s sofa and they all appeared on the show on Thursday 31 January.
The aggrieved couple wanted £2,000 for the cost of a replacement sofa which was damaged by the vandalous parrot.
After appearing on the show, Steve accused the show of ‘baiting’ guests behind the scenes to make the show more explosive.
He claims TV bosses took both parties to one side and tried to wind them both up before filming started.
A spokeswoman for the programme has responded by saying the show looks for a “wide range” of possible contributors.
The rep added that anyone progressing through the casting stages “must have a real case to be heard”.
She said: “We speak to a wide range of potential contributors in the early stages of the production process.
“Anyone who goes beyond this early stage must have a real case to be heard and the production team works rigorously to ensure each case is editorially and legally sound before going forward to be heard by Judge Rinder.”
With regards to ‘baiting’ guests, the spokeswoman added: “We strongly refute any accusations of ‘baiting’ of our contributors or guests behind the scenes or anywhere else.”
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