Dianne Buswell has broken her silence after Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left livid when head judge Shirley Ballas continued to call the professional dancer, 'Diana', instead of Dianne.
BBC One viewers found themselves irritated during Saturday evening's instalment of the much-loved dance competition when Shirley appeared to call Dianne 'Diana' several times, while dishing out her feedback after she and radio star Tyler West wowed the audience with their sultry dance.
Tyler and Dianne performed a Viennese Waltz to I’ve Been Loving You Too Long by Seal, and although it went down a treat with both viewers at home and the judging panel, some Strictly viewers rushed to Twitter to point out Shirley's name blunder.
Following the drama, Dianne, 33, took to Instagram to lift the lid on the 'tough week' she endured before Saturday night's performance.
"Firstly thank you guys for all the support on our dance last night. It was a tough week but I am forever in awe of the hard work and dedication Tyler brings every single week," the flame-haired dancer penned.
Dianne went on to defend her Strictly co-star Shirley, insisting that she won't condone anyone being targeted online over a mistake.
"Another point I want to address is I have seen a lot of hateful comments aimed at Shirley for simply adding an 'a' to the end of my name which doesn't offend me - but what does make me upset is someone being bullied online.
"We are all human and doing the best we can. Let's all please be kind to one another and not put each other down.
"Once again thank you for all your positive messages it really does mean a lot to us all," Dianne added.
It comes after dozens of unimpressed Strictly viewers laid into Shirley over her name blunder, as several called the head judge 'disrespectful'.
"One Strictly viewer tweeted: "Dianne trying not to correct Shirley about her name."
"I assumed I misheard last week when I thought Shirley called Dianne 'Diana' but I'm certain she is actually calling her that?? #strictly " another echoed.
"Tess and Claudia did it tonight too I noticed," someone else replied, while a fourth unimpressed viewer added: "Madness! Dianne's been a pro on here for YEARS, how do they still not know her name??"
Yet another annoyed Strictly fan tweeted: "I do think it rude of Shirley calling Dianne, Diana."
While someone else shared: "OMG Shirley getting Dianne’s name wrong again why don’t they correct her? Disrespectful to her and Ellie tonight."
Strictly Come Dancing airs its results show tonight at 7:15pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
