Richard Madeley is convinced that Richie Anderson was ‘over-marked’ after he was the latest star axed from Strictly Come Dancing.
The radio personality and professional dancer Giovanni Pernice performed an upbeat routine to Hakuna Matata from The Lion King, but was sent home after a tense dance-off, when the judges chose to save Fleur East and her partner Vito Coppola.
Reflecting on his departure, Richie told host Tess Daly: ‘As a Strictly fan I always thought it was a magical thing to be a part of, and being here it really is and it’s not just the people that you see on camera, the judges, and you and (co-host Claudia Winkleman) Claud and the amazing people that I’ve got to meet on this show.
‘The people behind the scenes in hair, make-up, costume, Tasha our runner, Stef, Jas, everybody. I also want to thank this guy [Giovanni] as well, he’s been so amazing, and I feel so lucky that I’ve got to dance with you every day.’
Strictly fans criticised the elimination on social media, with several claiming that both stars shouldn’t have been in the bottom two.
However, during Tuesday’s edition of Good Morning Britain, Richard claims Richie’s Samba was over-scored.’


‘With all due respect to Richie, he didn’t dance nearly as well as Fleur, full stop, end of. Anybody can see that.’
Commenting on their dance outfits, presenter Richard Arnold added: ‘And the costumes I think, bless them didn’t help.’
‘Richie and Giovanni both dressed as Timon and Pumbaa. I’d certainly stand down wind.’
After head judge Shirley Ballas revealed that she would have kept Richie in the competition, the rumba queen has been bombarded with abusive tweets.

Passionate viewers ordered Shirley to ‘quit’ the show, as they failed to understand her views, especially as Fleur scored 29 points for her American smooth to Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid, while Richie scored 27.
Highlighting the extent of the backlash she received since the show aired, Shirley revealed an explicit message, which was one of many from Strictly fans who didn’t agree with her choice.
Taking to social media, she shared a screenshot from the troll, that read: ‘You’re a f*****g t**t.’
Writing on Twitter, Shirley captioned her post: ‘Here we are again how sad.’
But, the 62-year-old ballroom dancer isn’t holding a grudge, later tweeting that all had been forgiven.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV and Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday at 6:30pm on BBC One.