Strictly Come Dancing's Shayne Ward says 'horrible' show endings are taking toll on rehearsals

Strictly Come Dancing's Shayne Ward has opened up about his struggle with being in the bottom two of the popular dance show. Despite his extensive reality TV background, having risen to fame on 'The X Factor' 20 years previous, he confessed it's been difficult not being a frontrunner in this competition.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: "I never thought that, 20 years after 'The X Factor', I’d be listening to the same ‘heartbeat’ music that they played when I stood on the stage to win the show. I'm 40 and it brings back so much nostalgia. It’s weirdly the same feelings I had when I stood on that stage at the age of 21."

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Shayne reflected on the close bonds formed during the show, saying: "You grow so close to everybody you’re working with, you see them pretty much every day. So you want everybody to do well. But then the realisation kicks in that somebody has to go home."

On hearing the tense heartbeat sound, he added: "The moment you hear that heartbeat, you’re like, ‘Oh, we’re back to a competition again, aren’t we?'

"It’s not nice being in the bottom two. It’s a horrible feeling. " Still, he remained positive about his performance, stating, "You never know what the public are going to warm to, but I’m proud of the routine we did on Saturday. It fitted Halloween Week perfectly."

Expressing his emotions about the possibility of leaving the show, he admitted: "Being in that bottom two, I was gutted, you know. In that moment, you’re thinking, ‘Is this the end of my adventure on Strictly?'

"We’re just truly grateful to the judges for putting us through."

Sharing the impact this has had, Shayne and his partner Nancy Xu noted it's taken its toll on their rehearsals.

He expressed: "It’s hard not to let something like that come into the rehearsal room. But it definitely re-focuses you and reignites that fire to make you go, ‘I really want this, I don’t want this to be over. I want to keep dancing with Nancy’."