BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Fleur East breaks silence on being in the dance-off as fans' new 'crush' Vito hits back at judges

Fleur East has broken her silence after Strictly Come Dancing fans were left gobsmacked at seeing her in the dreaded dance-off on Sunday night. During the live show on Saturday, the Hits Radio host and her professional partner Vito Coppola took to the ballroom floor with their The Little Mermaid-inspired routine.

The dancing couple performed an American Smooth to Part Of Your World and scored a more than respectable 29. At the time, Fleur, 34, said said the Disney film was one of her favourites, adding: "This was a childhood dream for me." However, despite their good place on the leaderboard, Fleur and Vito found the red light of doom landed on them.

They had to perform their romantic routine again in a bid to keep their place in the BBC One dance compeititon, going up against Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice. The BBC Radio 2 star and the Italian pro reprised their samba to Hakuna Matata from The Lion King dressed as Timon and Pumbaa.

READ MORE: BBC Strictly Come Dancing fans 'know why' Giovanni Pernice and Richie Anderson were eliminated from show

After both couples performed again, it was over to the judges and Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse, and Craig Revel-Horwood unanimously voted to save Fleur and Vito. While her vote made no difference, head judge Shirley Ballas threw a bit of a spanner in the works by revealing she'd have opted to save Richie and Giovanni.

The results, and Shirley's decision, outraged fans who flocked to social media to have their say. And upon finding out she'd be in the bottom two former X Factor star Fleur reportedly broke down in tears. But breaking her silence on Hits Radio on Monday morning (October 10), she shared her shock at finding herself having to dance again.

"I couldn’t believe