Greg Rutherford threatened to quit Strictly after ‘meltdown’

The pressure is building on the BBC dance show and though you’d think the likes of Olympian Greg Rutherford could handle it, reports have surfaced that the star had a “total meltdown” and threatened to follow Will Young and throw in the towel after he was slammed for his rumba last weekend.

Natalie and Grey on Strictly (BBC)

Four people stepped in to calm Greg down after acid tongued judge Craig Revel Horwood awarded him and pro dancer Natalie Lowe just four points out of 10 for their “wild” romantic routine, leaving the 29-year-old sportsman fuming.

A source told The Daily Mirror newspaper: “Greg had a total meltdown. He kept telling Natalie how amazing she was and how it wasn’t her fault.

"Four people had to restrain him as he insisted that he was done with the show. He was properly kicking off, saying he was leaving, that they couldn’t treat Natalie like that.”

Craig mostly took aim at Natalie and blamed her for packing in a load of “tricks” that made the dance far from rumba-like.

He said at the time: “Natalie, I felt like you were protecting Greg with this dance with wild, show-stopping positions and lines that are going to make the audience applaud. I don’t feel I can judge this dance as a rumba. I can probably judge this as a showdance or a contemporary dance that’s passionate and engaging but sadly it wasn’t, for me, to do with rumba.”

Will Young sensationally quit the show last month despite being a fan favourite to win, after he was supposedly offended by Len Goodman’s comments about his salsa.