Strictly Come Dancing reject Rav Wilding has blamed a phoneline mix-up for his early departure from the BBC dance show, a report has claimed.

The TV presenter has said that he was "gutted" to lose the dance-off with Lynda Bellingham on Saturday night.

Rav has claimed that a problem with the telephone voting system used on the show meant that viewers were unable to register their votes for him.

Wilding said: "Sorry for so many of you who say you tried to vote and couldn't get through.

"Maybe you would have saved me."

Sources have claimed that Rav was so upset that he "refused" to go attend the after-show party.

An insider said: "Rav was really upset. He'd given the show his all and expected to get further."

Show bosses have insisted that there were no problems with the telephone voting system.

A spokesman said: "The phonelines are carefully monitored on the night and independently verified.

"There no reported problems with lines for any of the contestants."