Strictly Come Dancing star Shayne Ward has spoken out after facing criticism about his attitude on the show.

On Saturday night, the former X Factor winner and his professional partner Nancy Xu made their Strictly debut during the first live show of the series.

While their Samba routine earned them a respectable 21 points from the judging panel, not everyone was so impressed, with certain news outlets even publishing stories featuring quotes from critics on X who branded Shayne “over-confident”.

Responding to this on Instagram, he told his followers: “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 over-confident…”

“All I can do is my best,” Shayne added, pointing out he needs to “work hard” and listen to his “wonderful teacher”, Nancy.

Before the current series of Strictly got underway, the chart-topping singer made no secret of his hopes to take home the Glitterball Trophy at the end of the series.

“I’ve said to myself that it’s OK to say I want to win this,” Shayne admitted to the Manchester Evening News. “I think some people may take it the wrong way but I’m like, no, I’d be honoured when I say I want to win this.

“It’d be an absolute honour to win Strictly Come Dancing because of how amazing the show is.”

He added: “I’m hoping the stars are going to align and I can have another win. But I’ve just got to take each dance as it comes.”

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night on BBC One, with the first celebrity set to be eliminated in Sunday’s results show.