New voting statistics for Dancing with the Stars have been released

This is not the kind of controversy you want ahead of the semi-finals.

Dancing with the Stars has been caught up in a sexism row after Deirdre O'Kane and Maia Dunphy have suggested that the women in the competition need to work harder in order to get fair results from the judges. Commenting on the scores, Deirdre said, "They are tougher with all the women without a shadow of a doubt. The men get an easier time on Dancing With The Stars and that’s plain to see." In a bid to set the record straight, RTÉ has released the average scores of the series to The Sun, in order to prove that women have been marked fairly. The new stats reveal that Jake Carter is out on top with his average score of 25.6, while Alannah Beirne, who left the show last week, comes in second with an average score of 24.9. In third position is Erin McGregor with 24.4, fourth is Anna Geary with 23.8, while Deirdre is currently in fifth position with an average score of 22.9. In response to Deirdre's comments and with these stats releases, judge Brian Redmond says:

"The statistics prove that nothing could be further from the truth. Of the five highest scores this series, four of them are women — and one of those is Deirdre. As it happens, the female contestants, in general, are averaging three points more than the men so the stats just don’t back up what Deirdre has said. We all know emotions run high after the live show and for Deirdre to be unhappy with her scores is understandable, as anybody who has a competitive nature would be aiming for the highest possible scores."