Strictly Come Dancing star Heather Small has said she thinks the show’s judges are unfairly mean at times.

Last week’s Heather and partner Brian Fortuna’s quickstep was described as “like champagne which has gone flat” and former Eastenders star Jessie Wallace was accused of having kicks more suited to the football pitch than the dance floor.

Heather explained she frequently has to bite her tongue at their comments: “You expect to be critiqued and you expect to be in the bottom two at some stage - but what I didn’t expect was the harshness of the judges last week.

“When you’re standing there in front of them and you’ve been rehearsing all week for four hours a day, you think, ‘I’ve come out here and danced for you - that alone deserves a ten at least’.

“Then they come out with all guns blazing and at that moment, you wish you could hit back and tell them how you feel. Brian has to hold me back.”

But the former M People frontwoman, whose Samba landed her in the bottom four out of the 12 remaining pairs last night, added that she doesn’t really mind where she ends up in the final rankings: “I entered this competition purely to have fun. I’m loving it.”

  • See Heather and Brian’s Samba below