Strictly's Cach Mercer holds back tears after judges deliver crushing critique of his Waltz - while fans are left fuming at inconsistent scoring

Cach Mercer was left looking downcast on Saturday evening after his Waltz fell flat with the judges. 

The Love Island star has struggled to perfect his ballroom technique during the competition and he and his partner Maddie Ingoldsby found themselves bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 26. 

As he received his comments from the judges, Cach looked visibly downhearted as Shirley Ballas said there were 'way too many foot errors'.

Craig Revel Horwood also critiqued the social media star as he explained that 'the posture was poor and the frame wasn't great.

However both Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke were more complimentary as they gushed over how much they love watching him dance. 

Shirley also added: 'Don't give up I still think you are a frontrunner.' 

Visibly upset by the comments, Cach told host Johannes Radebe: 'I was excited to stay in the [ballroom] membership band but I feel like I went down tonight based on those reactions.'

And taking to Instagram fans were outraged by Cach's scores as they once again accused the judges of undermarking and inconsistent scores. 

They wrote: 'So undermarked I LOVE watching them dance'; 'It feels like the judges are doing a bit with their scoring now and it's boring. A 4?!? Absolutely no way?';

'This was beautiful x disagree with the scoring so much!!!!'; 'Absolutley LOVE this couple.. Maddie is new & doing her best Cach is a fab natural dancer … something doesn’t add up.. why the judges need to be so harsh with their words.'

'This did NOT deserve a 4 or 6! What is their problem??? Every week they are extremely harsh with this couple, nothing they seem to do is good enough.'

However some fans agreed with the judges as they added: 'That was a poor dance and not to have basic heel leads nailed in by now speaks to insufficient practice.';

'The pro in this pairing doesn't seem to know the ballroom techniques and bizarrely keeps doing it. It's letting Cach down. It's weird.'

Maddie has previously claimed she is 'doing her best' after she was accused of 'letting down' Cach.

The professional dancer, who joined the show this year, has been picked up on her choreography skills throughout the series with some saying it is 'unfair' on Cach.

Seemingly responding to the commentary in a TikTok last month, Maddie, 21, lip-synced to a viral sound which asks 'angel what do you do?' she replied: 'My best.'

Motsi was particularly critical of Cach and Maddie after their cha-cha-cha to Beggin' by Måneskin a few weeks ago. 

The pairing scored 24 points out of 40 for their performance, after being given five from Craig, seven from Motsi, five from Shirley and seven from Anton. 

Noting the lack of technical steps in the routine, Motsi told the former Love Island star: 'It would have been a disaster but was saved by your talent.'

Motsi acknowledged his natural dancing ability, energy and freestyle talent, but felt these weren't enough to make the routine a successful cha-cha-cha. 

Her remarks were interpreted by fans as criticism of the choreography, which they felt relied too heavily on Cach's natural style instead of the proper Latin technique.

Sharing their thoughts on X, viewers said: 'Maddie has no place in this show she can't even choreograph the basics - or the fundamentals of the dance. Sorry an all but she's the one hindering Cach'; 'I doubt Will. Probably John or Cach. For Cach, if Maddie can get the choreography right, he stands a chance to join these lots';

'Just how many times will Cach be given choreography that is not the dance he is supposed to be doing? And when will he and Maddie say thank you after getting voted through by the public?';

'Maddie is a great dancer, but can someone support her with the choreography here? Cos Cach could do the technical moves needed and have a fantastic dance #Strictly'; 'Maddie's choreography continues to really bother me, there was SO little cha cha content in there. Cach would've done much better with another partner who could've pushed him into doing the basics of the dance instead of freestyling all the time';

'Cach did the dance well, but I did not like the choreography. And he and Maddie were not in sync'; 'If Maddie doesn't change her style or choreography then I'm afraid Cach won't make the final four.'