Strictly's Dianne Buswell slams 'conspiracy theories' as Stefan makes emotional confession

Dianne Buswell has dismissed the "conspiracy theories" surrounding her departure from Strictly Come Dancing. The 36-year-old Australian dancer was forced to withdraw from the competition after her celebrity partner, Stefan Dennis, suffered an injury that left him unable to continue. Appearing on Wednesday's (October 22) edition of It Takes Two, presenter Janette Manrara asked Dianne if there was anything she wanted to address about their exit.

Dianne, who announced she is expecting her first child with Joe Sugg in September, said: "It's definitely not a conspiracy theory. I feel great and I would love to continue with Stefan." Turning to the Neighbours actor, Dianne continued: "I wish you the best in your recovery and I want to say you were absolutely phenomenal and I enjoyed my time with you so, so, so much. I'm very proud of you." The 66-year-old acknowledged that his journey in the competition had been far from easy, saying: "It's been a hard run," while also noting that they'd had fun along the way.

The professional said that Stefan "brought me a bit of home", adding: "I appreciate that so much. It's the first time I've ever had a fellow Aussie dancer with me and I really enjoyed it."

"I've enjoyed team Aussie as well," Stefan quipped.

Later in the interview, Dianne admitted it had been a "rocky road" for the couple due to Stefan's illness and injury.

Stefan agreed: "Apart from the fact that I had great fear and trepidation for the first couple of dances. It took me a while to get past that. Then I got lumbered with the whole vertigo thing and that put me out.

"Then I came back and came back, as they said, with a bang on Saturday night and I thought, 'This is it.' And then, yeah..."

Stefan was forced to withdraw from Strictly after tearing his calf during last weekend's performance. Shortly after the announcement was made, Dianne slammed claims that their exit was "planned" due to her being pregnant.

One person wrote online: "To be honest I saw this coming, Diane couldn't really continue especially when she gets bigger, bless her. She's a brilliant dancer and she is one of my favourites sorry to say but I think this was planned to keep her and baby safe, just my thoughts."

Dianne snapped back: "I sound like a broken record but I'm seeing a bit of this floating around again! I know people say ignore it but actually why should I?"

"I will speak up... I would love nothing more than to keep dancing this week next week the week after that so on and so forth. In fact I have more energy this year than I did this time last year."

She added: "Please respect Stefan who is extremely gutted to not be able to dance and stop presuming this was a set up! Because believe me we would if we could!"