Dianne Buswell has hit back at the claim that her partner Stefan Dennis's early exit was "planned" due to her pregnancy. The Neighbours actor withdrew from the competition on Monday after tearing his calf, abruptly cutting short his and Dianne's Strictly journey. After the announcement, several viewers claimed that the actor's injury was "planned" to keep Dianne and her baby safe as her pregnancy progressed. The Australian dancer hit back at the claim on her Instagram Stories, insisting that she would have happily kept dancing week after week if Stefan was able to continue. "I sound like a broken record but I'm seeing a bit of this floating around again! I know people say ignore it but actually why should I," she began. "I will speak up... I would love nothing more than to keep dancing this week next week the week after that (and) so on and so forth. Infact I have more energy this year than I did this time last year (sic)." She added, "Please respect Stefan who is (extremely) gutted to not be able to dance and stop presuming this was a set up! Because believe me we would if we could." In his announcement, the 66-year-old Australian dancer said he was "devastated" to pull out of the show just when he had "gained the confidence" with his dancing. Reacting to the news, Dianne wrote, "Stefo I'm so sorry our strictly journey was cut short just as that confidence was starting to grow. But you can walk away with your head held high." She is currently expecting her first child with her partner Joe Sugg, with whom she competed on the 2018 series.