Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan admits fearing the worst when paired with Kirsty Gallacher
FOLLOWING their elimination from Strictly Come Dancing over the weekend, Brendan Cole has admitted he was "not hopeful" when first partnered with Kirsty Gallacher.
Kirsty was the fifth celeb to be eliminated
The sports presenter was eliminated after a disappointing performance during the Halloween special, despite being praised for her sharp improvement just one week earlier.
Speaking to Zoe Ball on spin-off show It Takes Two, Brendan said: "You get respect for someone when you see how they work behind the scenes and Kirsty was not shy of working hard.
"When we started I was not hopeful because she hadn't danced… she was stiff and scared of it.
"But once we turned the corner of some of the fear disappearing, she started to become a dancer. Thats as good for me as Jay getting a 10!"
It was Kirsty's second time in the dance-off
Kirsty was originally approached for the show last year
I kind of wasn't ready to go
Kirsty, who said she was "really sad" to have lost the dance-off against Jamelia and Tristan MacManus, said that she has no hard feelings against her opponent.
"I kind of wasn't ready to go," she admitted. "But I do feel that Jamelia was better in the Dance-Off. I didn't want to send anyone else out."
She also had heaps of praise for Brendan, who has not won the Glitterball Trophy since he partnered Natasha Kaplinsky in the very first series of Strictly.
"Brendan is amazing, a new lovely friend," the 39-year-old said. "All of the people in the team, all the dancers and the other contestants, it's been such a lovely family.
"The camaraderie is amazing. On a Friday I get really excited… that is making me quite sad to think about it."
The pair were in high spirits earlier today
This year's contest seems to be wide open, with a total of six couples having topped the leaderboard so far.
Jay McGuiness remains favourite to win, with Peter Andre, Georgia May Foote and Helen George also heavily backed by punters.
Katie Derham's odds have nosedived after two abysmal weeks, while Kellie Bright and Anita Rani continue to chase those at the front of the pack.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday on BBC One.