Dianne Buswell opened up on how she felt during Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing when judge Motsi Mabuse told the pregnant dancer she needs to "rehearse more".
Ms Buswell, 36, partnered with Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis, 66, took to the floor in the second live show of the series last weekend with an energetic Cha Cha Cha.
Unfortunately, a few slip-ups occurred, which didn’t go unnoticed by the judging panel.
Ms Mabuse had some positive comments for the couple, describing them as "like sunshine when you pair up together".
Diannie Buswell is pregnant with her first child
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However, she went on to address what she had deemed "the elephant in the room."
After pointing out the mistakes in the routine, she told the disgruntled audience: "There were guys, sorry, let's just be honest."
She concluded: "Just let's try next time to rehearse and stick to the routine."
During Tuesday’s Strictly spin-off show, It Takes Two, host Janette Manrara pointed out: "Motsi said that you needed to rehearse more because of the mistakes that happened on the night.
"But you couldn't have rehearsed more. You did a lot of training. What did that comment mean to you?"
"Look, the judges don't know how much we train and all of that," Ms Buswell acknowledged, before adding: "So you know, a fair comment coming from her.
"However, we literally have rehearsed our maximum amount of hours.
"He [Stefan] is someone that repeats, repeats, repeats, repeats, to the point that I have to tell him, 'we need to have a break.'
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"Like I am the one saying, 'I think we need to have a little moment to rest the brain.'"
Ms Mabuse's comment sparked outrage on Saturday night, with viewers flooding X with complaints about the remark.
Ms Buswell herself, who is expecting her first child with partner Joe Sugg, also responded to the suggestion of rehearsing more at the time, replying: "I don't know how much more we can rehearse, Motsi!"
"Find a way, I don't know, we have to get one performance without those tiny, tiny creepers in there," the judge doubled down in response.
BBC Strictly: Dianne Buswell keeled over in exhaustion following Motsi Mabuse's comments
| BBCPosts shared on X on the matter included one which read: "Such a horrible comment to make. That will make people think they haven’t put the time in."
"Dianne was NOT happy with the 'rehearse more' comment and I’m glad because I nearly jumped out of my seat in anger lol #Strictly," a second penned.
Janette Manrara asked Dianne Buswell how she felt about Motsi Mabuse's comment
|BBC
"I feel like telling the eldest contestant with the pregnant pro to rehearse more when they have been doing long days, and it's clear it was because of nerves and not lack of rehearsal is an extremely unfair thing to say #Strictly," another added.
Someone else wrote: "I'm so glad Dianne fired back at that rehearsal comment. What the hell else do they think they’ve been doing? What a bizarre criticism #Strictly."