Be.Interactive, the organisation which manages vote counting for Australian reality TV shows, has defended its phone polling methods, following Tuesday night's Australia's Next Top Model debacle.
On Tuesday night, Australia's Next Top Model host Sarah Murdoch announced the wrong winner in the season finale of the show, sparking intense debate over the source of the foul-up.
Be.Interactive managing director Lara Thom said: "There were no technical problems with Australia's Next Top Model voting and the vote was closed at the correct time and the correct winner was delivered to Fox8.
"All votes recieved by Be.Interactive prior to the close time were processed and counted. A secondary internal audit on the votes was conducted on Wednesday morning and the outcome remained the same. Be.Interactive take the vote and the final result very seriously and would never compromise the outcome or allow the system to be maniplulated."
Meanwhile, Foxtel has accepted the explanation provided by Australia's Next Top Model producers that Sarah Murdoch announced the wrong winner because there was a "communications breakdown".
Foxtel executive director of television Brian Walsh said: "In live television, mistakes can happen and we accept that fact. Sarah was simply not given the correct information at that stage of the proceedings.
"Foxtel is not blaming any individual, and certainly not Sarah Murdoch, as some reports have suggested. That is not true. Sarah dealt with a very difficult situation with grace, dignity and professionalism."
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