BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Matt Baker makes jive confession

A Strictly Come Dancing contestant has thrown light on what it's like fighting for the Glitterball trophy. Countryfile presenter Matt Baker, well-known for his second-place finish in the 2010 series of the BBC dancing programme, has been reminiscing about his time on Strictly.

At the age of 46, Baker looked back fondly on his experience in an interview with the Mirror, sharing a behind-the-scenes secret from one of his memorable performances. He shared how he was once worried he might kick a judge.

Despite dazzling the crowd with his agility during his jive in week 10, where he began his routine by leaping from the judges' desk, Matt disclosed that this daring move had not been rehearsed. This particular performance earned him an impressive score of 35 out of 40.

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He importantly advised judge Len Goodman at the time to keep his distance for safety reasons. He said: "I put quite a bit of gymnastics in my routines, and I was sort of somersaulting off the desk in front of Len. I remember him sitting in front of me. I was like, I said to him, 'I'd sit back here if I were you, Len. I don't want to kick you'.

"And I stood on the desk and did a somersault off it, then went into a jive. And it's funny, because I hadn't practiced it. That's the one thing that not a lot of people know. I thought, because the thing was, I knew that if I knocked myself out for the rest of the training, so I thought I'll just risk it on the night. So we were live. I was stood on that desk, and I was thinking, I've really not got a clue what's going to happen here. And went for it, and suddenly - woo! And off into a jive I went."