Mike Bushell\'s wife has hit back at the "painful" and "shocking" abuse he has received since progressing on \'Strictly Come Dancing\' at the expense of Catherine Tyldesley.
The 53-year-old sports presenter beat off competition from the former \'Coronation Street\' star following a dance-off on Sunday\'s (27.10.19) results show, but several viewers quickly took to Twitter to complain about the judges\' decision to save Mike and his dance partner Katya Jones.
One posted: "Shirley has hated Catherine since the start and had it in for her. Shirley needs her head testing! ITS A FIX - Mike can p**s off and so can Katya! (sic)"
However, Mike\'s wife Emily has defended her husband from the backlash.
She tweeted: "Wow the abuse! Painful. We\'re beyond gutted Catherine and Johannes have left but Mike danced well and deserves his spot. As a viewer since the start I get opinion but this level of abuse is shocking. He\'s just a contestant and giving his all. @mikebreakfast (sic)"
Mike is remaining optimistic about the social media comments as he tries to "rise above the abuse".
Speaking to \'BBC Breakfast\', he said: "It\'s an entertainment show, we\'re all trying our best, you\'re not really competing against anybody else, you compete against yourself to try and learn to get better and better each week, even if its just learning a couple of new steps.
"As a non-dancer all I can do is put the hours in, do my best and get through it. You have to rise above the abuse on social media, that\'s one of the sad things about social media.
"All you can do is do your best, accept the judges\' decision and move on. Johannes and Catherine are lovely people, I didn\'t want to see them go but someone has to go.
"It\'s like football - you have to accept the referee\'s decision. [The judges] are the best judges in the world, they do know what they\'re talking about, if they\'d sent me home that would have been the best decision, I can\'t get involved in any of that.
"I just have to concentrate on improving, and if Katya is happy with what I\'m doing then I\'m happy."
