Love Island star Zara McDermott's boyfriend, Made in Chelsea's Sam Thompson, has revealed he has been told "to stay at home" and not attend Strictly Come Dancing live shows by his girlfriend.

McDermott is competing on Strictly 2023 with professional dancer Graziano Di Prima with the pair scoring 28 (four sevens from the judges) in week 4. 

This comes just a week after narrowly avoiding elimination the weekend before during movie week.

Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson reveals why he's been told to "stay at home" from Strictly Live shows by Zara McDermott

Friends and family of Strictly contestants have been known to attend the live shows to cheer on their loved ones. 

Adam Thomas' brothers Ryan (Coronation Street) and Scott (Love Island) were spotted in the Strictly crowd on Saturday night cheering him on.

Thompson - who has also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother - was in the crowd in week 1, but says his girlfriend McDermott has banned him from the show since. But there is a good reason for it.

Explaining why he wasn't allowed to attend the Strictly live shows anymore on Hits UK with Sam Thompson, he said: "If you’re wondering why you haven’t seen me in the Strictly audience I’ve been told to stay at home!

"Zara and I have agreed that I can do more damage from the sofa - by which I mean garner more votes!"

"I can go on Instagram stories and really be like 'Vote for Zara!' because the actual studio audience aren’t allowed to bring their phones into the studio.

"You can’t do anything in the studio with your phone, so we thought we’d go for a multi-pronged attack with me on the sofa at home!"

Thompson continued, saying his Strictly ban is a bit of a blessing in disguise as the live shows are quite long.

He added: “I’m going to be honest it’s not the worst thing in the world because it’s quite a long show – it’s a good three hours!

"I took Pete (Wicks) my best mate to the first show and after three dances he turned round and went ‘It’s a long one this isn't’ it?’

“So, I’m going to town on stories this weekend and I’m going to make sure my girlfriend sails through to another week." 

Strictly Come Dancing 2023 continues on BBC One on Saturday at 6.35pm or you can catch up on previous episodes on BBC iPlayer.