Dr Ranj Singh has said being on Strictly Come Dancing has bolstered his body confidence.
The 39-year-old will be doing his first dance, the cha cha cha, with professional partner Janette Manrara this weekend when the dancing series returns.
The This Morning presenter will be hoping to impress judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Bruno Tonioli and Dame Darcey Bussell by dancing to Whitney Houston’s How Will I Know.
He told the Press Association: “I’m not necessarily the most physically confident person and this really has forced me to get my body to do what I need it to do.
“I’ve got fitter with it and that has bought a degree of body confidence with it.
“It’s improved my physical stamina, my strength and my body confidence. And the feeling you get with that, just generally getting fitter, the feeling you get with that is amazing.”
This weekend, the BBC One series returns after a two-week break – and the 15 couples will perform routines for the judges and public for the first time.
Manrara said their routine this weekend is “kind of the story of us getting partnered”.
She explained: “I don’t know why, Ranj and I didn’t expect we would get each other. When we did we were both ecstatic, we got on really well from the beginning. I came up with the storyline of how will I know if I’m the one he really wanted.
“We’ll only find out with time and as we’ve been doing this routine. And now, now I know, I love him!”
Dr Singh said doing the cha cha cha as his first routine was also “bringing out his inner macho”.
He said: “In terms of the dance itself, it’s quite a sensual dance, there’s a lot of hip movement, there’s a lot of flicking the skirt… as the man you have to be able to lead, you have to be in charge.
“You have to be quite assertive and that’s not something I’m used to.
“My general personality is quite laid back and I’m quite passive and I will let people other people take charge if they need to, I don’t tend to tread on people’s toes, whereas here [with this dance] I have to be quite macho.
“I’ve got to be in charge. I’m bringing out my inner macho.”
No couples will go home this weekend as the public vote will begin in the second week of the competition.
Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC one at 6.15pm on Saturday.
