Mark “Occy” Occhilupo has been practising his moves in Tweed in preparation for confronting his Dancing with the Stars nemesis Todd McKenny tomorrow night.

The champion surfer faced harsh criticism from the judge, who branded his cha cha last Sunday as the worst performance in the show's history.

Not being a person to back down, Mr Occhilupo has taken the criticism with a smile and thanked his Tweed and Gold Coast fans for their unwavering support.

“The first show was nerve-racking. Just before I hit the dance floor the nerves came,” Mr Occhilupo said.

“At the end I got so caught up in the moment and lost all sense of direction. It was tough.”

Mr Occhilupo said he felt the judge's criticism was harsh, and so did his friends.

“After what Todd, the judge that wrote me off, said I didn't stay for the after drinks,” Mr Occhilupo said.

“I went back to the hotel and started getting heaps of text messages from home just going “if we ever see him on the Gold Coast” and stuff.

“All my mates were saying they wanted to do something to him, but I got a lot of support and messages saying ‘How could that guy talk to you like that?'.

“So it felt good to have all the support. This week I'll just go down and try to do better.”

Mr Occhilupo said Mr McKenny's attitude came as a surprise.

“I met him the day before and he was really nice,” he said.

“Then he was really rude to me. I thought it might be for the show, but he didn't come up and apologise and say it was nothing personal. He didn't give me any constructive criticism. When I see him next I don't think I'll really acknowledge him.”

Mr Occhilupo is dancing for the charity SurfAid and said he hoped to gain the support of the Australian public.