Shayne Ward’s Strictly partner Nancy Xu breaks her silence to defend star after he is branded ‘insufferable’

NANCY Xu has broken her silence to support Strictly Come Dancing partner Shayne Ward after he was branded “insufferable”.

Shayne, 39, and Nancy, 33, made their Strictly dance debut on Saturday with a Samba to Stevie Wonder’s Do I Do.

Judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabue and Anton Du Beke scored the duo 21 for their engergetic performance.

But some viewers later took to social media to hit out at former Coronation Street star Shayne for being “overconfident”.

Now professional Nancy has taken to social media to support Shayne.

Ahead of them dancing the Tango this weekend, she shared a post of them together and wrote: “I cannot wait for this.”

Nancy added: “Smash it.”

Writing on social media after their performance on Saturday, one fan said: “The overconfidence is actually something I’m not enjoying about Shayne right now. No question, he’s good but he’s NOT the master of all things dance.”

Another critic said: “Shayne Ward did well for week 1, but there just something so cringe about the guy.”

Another said: “Find someone who loves you as much as Shayne Ward loves himself.”

And another person simply said: “Hes insufferable.”

Shayne later hit back, taking to Instagram to assure fans that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Accompanied by a moody black and white photo, Shayne said: “Strictly is amazing and I love being part of it.

“But through my smile on TV I’m as nervous as the next person.

“Not cocky or overconfident… I’m nervous!

“I just gotta work hard and listen to my wonderful teacher Nancy Xiu. All I can do is my best!”