BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Chris McCausland breaks silence over fans' 'completely unfair' backlash

Chris McCausland has broken his silence over viewers' complaints about his Sambathon - branding it "completely unfair". BBC Strictly Come Dancing fans defended the blind comic as he continues to compete against the remaining couples on the dancefloor each and every Saturday night.

The Dance-A-Thon format is a staple of Ballroom and Latin dance competitions around the world - and saw the judges eliminate couples one by one, until the winner is crowned. Chris said on Instagram: "I was really proud of our dance on Saturday, and as for the Sambathon….[zipped-mouth emoji] ….Well thank you so much for all of your votes.

"You really did help us survive double Latin! See you tomorrow partner [Dianne Buswell], I'll be bringing earplugs." JB Gill won the samba-thon and scored the full seven points. Slamming the format, one viewer said: "I thought it was quite unfair. Chris and Dianne took it well though."

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Another said: "Dianne can’t let go of Chris in case he bumped into someone or fell off the stage. They should of done something like take a average of his scores from the last few weekends or something fair." A third typed: "I felt a bit sorry for them, every week they blow my mind, Chris and Diane are great."

"I find it shocking they chose this year to bring back the sambathon when Chris cannot see any of the other couples/be spatially aware of other couples. Like of course he's gonna get voted off first? Not in good taste in my opinion," another raged.

But Chris and Dianne's success on Saturday means they make it through to the quarter final. BBC EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick and his partner Michelle Tsiakkas were the latest pair to be eliminated after facing the dance-off against BBC Gladiators favourite Montell Douglas and her pro partner, Johannes Radebe.