DAN Walker has insisted Strictly Come Dancing is a "popularity contest" as he named his stand-out star of the series.

Former BBC Breakfast host Dan, 45, competed on the show last year – with professional partner Nadiya Bychkova – and narrowly missed out on the semi-final.

The BBC1 programme has come under fire as former footballer Tony Adams continues to make it through despite negative feedback from the judges.

Dan said: "Well, it's not a dance competition is it?

"It's half a popularity contest, it's an entertainment show and it doesn't matter how good you are on the dance floor, you've got to connect with the audience."

And Dan shared his thoughts on why Tony is so popular with some viewers, telling the Mirror: "Listen, as someone who wasn't the best dancer, I can recognise someone who also wasn't the best dancer in the world – he's brilliant to watch and he's fantastic entertainment."

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At the weekend an Arsenal fan forum campaign to get Tony into the final was uncovered.

The group has 100k members and with last year's winners Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice getting 55k public votes it's thought bosses are growing concerned that Tony could even win the show.

The organiser of the group told the Mail On Sunday: "Tony is our captain and our idol, and he needs us now, so we are asking all of our members to download their votes and use all three to get him to the final, and win."

But Dan thinks someone else will go all the way this year – Countryfile's Hamza Yassin.

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He said: "There's some really good dancers but Hamza's unstoppable, he's going to win it."

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