Anton du Beke addresses Shayne Ward backlash on Strictly as he issues warning to star

Strictly Come Dancing’s faced some flak after his debut last week but Anton du Beke hit back with words of wisdom on Saturday night.

During Shayne and Nancy Xu’s sultry tango to The Door by Teddy Swims, Anton gave pointed feedback: “I want you to listen to this, I want you to concentrate. I want you to evolve yourself into the dance, it’s about the dance.

“I, at the moment, don’t want to know about you, at the moment. I will do later, right now I want you to be in the dance and when you do that, you get this because it’s intense, it’s together, you’re in beautiful harmony.

“The music is part of the whole production as well and it’s a complete bit. I want you to focus on that because moving forward, you can be a real powerhouse in this competition.”

Fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood echoed Anton’s sentiment, remarking: “I completely agree with Anton, you are the one to watch”, reports .

The pep talk seemed to pay off as the celebrity dancer racked up an impressive score of 31, marking significant growth from his earlier efforts.

Social media was awash with critiques after Shayne’s first week, with some branding him “overconfident” and “cocky” sparking quite the uproar.

A viewer tweeted after his initial display: “The overconfidence is actually something I’m not enjoying about Shayne right now.”

Another X user expressed disbelief, writing: “Shayne’s not learned that no-one takes to the hyper-confident competitive ones, has he?”

Meanwhile, a separate viewer commented: “Find someone that loves you as much as loves himself.”

Responding to the criticism, Shayne shared on : “Strictly is amazing and I love being part of it. But through my smile on TV I’m as nervous as the next person.”

He continued: “Not cocky or overconfident… I’m nervous! I just gotta work hard and listen to my wonderful teacher [Nancy]. All I can do is my best!”

continues tonight at 7:15pm on One and iPlayer.