The Blue star, 35, and his partner Nadiya Bychkova were eliminated after a tense dance-off with actor Charles Venn and Karen Clifton.
The singer said the show will be a memory he'll "treasure for ever" after failing to win over the judges with a second performance of his Cha Cha Cha.
However, viewers were far more disgruntled by his departure, and took to Twitter to claim he had left the competition too early.
One wrote: "Lee Ryan was the better dancer in tonight’s Strictly Dance Off. Shirley was right and he should have gone through. He was robbed. So unfair!"
As another agreed: "I can’t understand why Lee Ryan left tonight he was way better than last night !"
Others added sadly: "Do people not like Lee Ryan? @bbcstrictly" and "I don't understand why Lee Ryan didn't get the votes in Strictly. I really liked his dances."
While further fans chimed in with annoyance: "@bbcstrictly why on Earth was Lee Ryan voted off? Ridiculous."
And: "Shocked that Lee Ryan was in the bottom two of @bbcstrictly thought he had improved from last week."
Lee and Nadiya found themselves in the dance-off for the second time, after scoring just 19 for their Back To The Future themed routine on Saturday night.
While he may not have been popular among viewers, a number of his Strictly co-stars paid tribute to him on Instagram after he was given the boot.
Vlogger Joe Sugg revealed he had made a selfie of Lee his phone background, writing: "Gonna miss my big bro @officialleeryan… so much so I've decided to make him my lock screen!"
Dr Ranj then told followers on his own page: "Lee, you're an absolute diamond. We're all going to miss you so so much, and I love you!"
The vote-off was not the only thing that shocked fans on Saturday – with Seann Walsh and Katya Jones, who are both in long-term relationships, pictured kissing after the show.
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