Brendan Cole has defended his Strictly Come Dancing partner Charlotte Hawkins following their performance on Saturday night, which saw the couple at the bottom of the leaderboard. Taking to his Twitter page after the results show, the professional dancer expressed his outrage over the negative comments by the judges, who scored them a total of 12 points. Brendan tweeted: "It was definitely a tough night at the office & maybe the scores were just! What I object to is belittling someone who has worked hard and is clearly upset at the situation. I have no time for negativity when someone is down."
WATCH: Charlotte Hawkins talks to HELLO! about all things Strictly
He added: "It was obvious that things hadn't gone to plan and at that time you can be honest but constructively positive! This can be humiliating at the best of times and laughing at another's misfortune is disgusting and although Strictly is just an entertainment show, we invest time and emotion into it and therefore it matters to us who take part." On the night, judge Craig Revel Horwood described their routine as a "complete dance disaster," however Darcey Bussell encouraged Charlotte, saying: "You'll come back stronger."
After the public voted to save them, Charlotte took to her own social media to thank fans for their support. She tweeted: "A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to all who voted to save me on @bbcstrictly I'm thrilled to be coming back to dance next week.." On Monday, she added: "Thanks @BrendanCole! Great to be back training & I'm SO looking forward to next week's dance...plus we've some v exciting filming tomorrow!" [sic]
STORY: Chizzy Akudolu is the first celebrity to leave this year's Strictly
Meanwhile, this weekend saw Chizzy Akudolu become the first celebrity to leave this year’s competition. The actress faced Brian Conley in the dance-off, performing the foxtrot with her dance partner Pasha Kovalev. While Craig voted to save Chizzy and Pasha, head judge Shirley Ballas had the casting vote and chose to save Brian and Amy.