Strictly Come Dancing star ‘upset’ about loss of public support in recent weeks

‘Vulnerable’ EastEnders actor was early favourite to win series

Strictly Come Dancing star Maisie Smith is said to be "upset" following the loss of public support in recent weeks.

The EastEnders actor was one of the favourites to win this year's series in the early weeks, but has since found herself seemingly falling out of favour having been in the bottom two for two weeks running.

Smith's mother, Julia, has opened up about her concerns for her daughter’s appearance on the BBC show.

“As a parent, it's not about her winning – it's not about her being at the top of the leaderboard in my eyes, in my opinion.,” she told MailOnline. “It's seeing my daughter upset and vulnerable.”

She continued: “In the early days me and my husband were allowed to sit in the audience – she would look over and we would give her a big thumbs-up and she said she misses that."

Smith added that she "was up for three hours just pacing around in the night" wondering how to "help" her daughter in the wake of her second dance-off.

The 19-year-old was unanimously saved by the judges for two weeks in a row.

Strictly continues tonight at 7.15pm on BBC One.