Strictly Come Dancing professional Kai Widdrington has spoken out in support of his dance partner Angela Rippon.
The latest Strictly elimination saw Krishnan Guru-Murthy become the latest celebrity to leave the competition after Angela survived her second consecutive dance-off.
In recent weeks, a Strictly source has repeatedly shut down “conspiracy theories” of supposed behind-the-scenes favouritism towards the BBC presenter.
Despite this, some viewers have continued to accuse the show of being “fixed” after Angela made it through ahead of Blackpool Week, having hosted the original Come Dancing from the Tower Ballroom decades ago.
Others have also claimed that Angela has been given easier routines than some of her fellow contestants.
However, during an appearance on It Takes Two this week, Kai insisted that the pair “did enough” to secure their place.
“Angela’s been [in the bottom two] before, we were there the week before,” he said. “There was no way on earth I was letting you go home even if we completely fell off the [side of the dance floor].
“We did enough, we had a good score. I think you deserved your place at Blackpool, so...”
Following his elimination, Krishnan wrote on Instagram: “Of course I’m terribly sad to be out and would have absolutely loved to get to Blackpool. But we have to be realistic about the unusually high standard this group has got to.
“And I’m just the guy off the news who somehow found himself falling in love with doing samba rolls and batucadas.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night at 6.40pm on BBC One.