Strictly Come Dancing viewers fuming after Debbie McGee is marked down for breaking the ’10 second rule’

STRICTLY Come Dancing viewers were left fuming tonight after Debbie McGee was marked down for breaking the "10 second rule".

Paul Daniels' widow put on a striking performance with Giovanni Pernice, but they were penalised by the judging panel over their routine.

Debbie wowed fans with her quickstep to Let's Call The Whole Thing Off from Shall We Dance? and they were convinced she would walk away with a top score for her efforts.

But she was given a shock when she faced the panel and Craig Revel Horwood told her she had broken a Strictly rule.

He explained that dancers should not spend more than "10 seconds out of hold", doing solo moves away from their partner.

Debbie  looked dismayed as he revealed she would have points deducted for the blunder.

She still came away with a respectable score of 25, but fans were furious about the judges' decision.

Viewers flocked to Twitter to claim they had never heard of the rule before and insisted Debbie had been treated unfairly.

One wrote: "Debbie deserved 9’s ... 10 second rule My Arse #Strictly."

Another tweeted: "#Strictly I though the ten second rule was if cake dropped on the floor and was there for less than ten seconds you could still eat it."

Another added: "I've watched #Strictly since it started. When has this 10 second rule EVER come about????!!! Brilliant dance again, Debbie!!."

One other fans insisted it was not on to mark Debbie down for the choreography, which she was not responsible for.

They added "Don't. Blame. Celebs. For. Choreographers'. Mistakes. #Strictly #scd."