Strictly’s Will Mellor ‘a bit annoyed’ by comments after dancing with flu

Will Mellor said he was "a bit annoyed” with the judges' comments after he danced while ill with the flu on Strictly Come Dancing last weekend.

Despite his illness, the Coronation Street star didn't get eliminated from the BBC dance competition. But Will, who was asleep in his dressing room before he went on stage, scored just 23 points for his rumba to The Joker And The Queen by Ed Sheeran featuring Taylor Swift.

“I’d only trained for about five hours that week because I’d been in bed with the full-on flu virus. I was in a bad way. The judges knew, but they just decided not to mention it or take it into consideration,” Mellor said.

Read more: Strictly Come Dancing's Hamza Yassin reveals toll training has taken on his body on ITV's Good Morning Britain

“I was a bit annoyed by it, to be honest, because I was struggling, and when you’re that way you feel a bit sorry for yourself, and when I got the scores I was a bit, ‘After all that…?!’. I got a four from Craig [Revel Horwood], but that’s just the way it is.

"They have to judge it as they see it, and that’s up to them. Maybe I shouldn’t have [danced], because the judges slagged me off – I should’ve just left it!”

But the 46-year-old, who is partnered with professional dancer Nancy Xu, is keen not to say anything too negative about the judges. “It’s hard taking criticism when you’re not feeling great. I don’t want it to come across that I’m complaining about the judges’ scoring – that’s part of the competition.

“I wanted to dance, it was my decision – they offered to let me have the week off, but I thought I’ll see how I feel, and if I can dance, I should do.”

The actor had dedicated his routine to men’s mental health in the VT during the show. “It was an important