Strictly’s AJ Pritchard says his samba with Saffron Barker was ‘underscored’
Strictly Come Dancing's AJ Pritchard has blamed the judges for his and Saffron Barker's elimination from the show.
Professional dancer Pritchard said he and the YouTuber had been "underscored" for their samba routine on the weekend.
The pair were marked 26 out of 40 for dancing to Walking On Sunshine, placing them joint bottom on the leaderboard following Saturday's live broadcast.
Barker, 19, and Pritchard, 25, were then 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, Pritchard 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, Pritchard said: "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, Barker said she had had the "time of my life".
She told Strictly host Tess Daly: "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.
"He's really taken me out of my shell. Thank you so much for everything."
Pritchard told Barker: "Every single week you've approached it with a positive mental attitude and you've inspired so many... on your own social media too."
