AJ PRITCHARD has blamed the judges for his and Saffron Barker's Strictly elimination on Sunday.

Professional dancer AJ, from Whitchurch, said he and YouTuber Saffron, had been "underscored" for their samba routine at the weekend.

The pair were marked 26 out of 40 for dancing to Walking On Sunshine, placing them joint bottom on the leaderboard.

After which they were unanimously voted off by the judges, after facing Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden in the dance-off.

During an appearance on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two, AJ said the pair did not get fair treatment from the judges.

"[Saffron] did amazing, you attacked it so positively and for me the dance was a great samba," he said, adding he felt it was "underscored".

Asked by host Rylan Clark-Neal about criticism from the judges, he added: "I didn't see any of them technical issues, I'm going to throw it out there."

He felt particularly strongly about about the mark of five given by judge Craig Revel Horwood, saying "I took that one to the heart."

Following their elimination, Saffron said she had had the "time of my life".

"It's been amazing. I'd like to thank AJ so much, when I look at what I was like on week one I was so embarrassed and shy," added Saffron.

"He's really taken me out of my shell. Thank you so much for everything."