Greg Rutherford had a "total meltdown" and threatened to quit 'Strictly Come Dancing' after the judges heavily criticised his rumba last weekend.

Greg Rutherford

Greg Rutherford

The 29-year-old Olympian was left fuming after nasty judge Craig Revel Horwood, who is known for his acid tongue, awarded him and his professional partner Natalie Lowe just four points out of 10 for their "wild" romantic dance.

A source told The Daily Mirror newspaper: "Greg had a total meltdown. He kept telling Natalie how amazing she was and how it wasn't her fault."

It's believed "four people" had to step in to calm the flame-haired hunk down as he raged about the pair's low score and how badly they'd been treated.

The insider explained: "Four people had to restrain him as he insisted that he was done with the show. He was properly kicking off, saying he was leaving, that they couldn't treat Natalie like that."

However, a friend of Greg believes his fiery behaviour behind the scenes are to be expected as he's a "natural sportsperson" and wants to be the best.

The pal said: "Greg is a natural sportsperson and as such has a desire to be the best in everything that he does.

"His ambition to succeed is what drives him and he is very passionate about the competition. He threw everything into his rumba on Saturday night, so he was disappointed that he didn't do as well as he had expected."

Greg and Natalie were overcome with emotion during last weekend's show as Craig lashed out at the blonde dancer for pumping their routine with tricks.

He said at the time: "Natalie, I felt like you were protecting Greg with this dance with wild, show-stopping positions and lines that are going to make the audience applaud. I don't feel I can judge this dance as a rumba. I can probably judge this as a showdance or a contemporary dance that's passionate and engaging but sadly it wasn't, for me, to do with rumba."

However, not everyone shared the same view as Craig, as head judge Len Goodman, Darcey Bussell and Bruno Tonioli awarded him 22 points in total for his effort on the floor.

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