Emmerdale stars Katie Hill and Jeff Hordley have backed Lawrence Robb ahead of his Strictly Come Dancing debut, revealing what they believe is his secret weapon.
The BBC show returns tonight with its first live episode of the series, with all 15 celebrities taking to the dancefloor for the first time. Katie and Jeff, who play Sarah and Cain on the ITV soap, have given their verdict on their co-star, who plays Mackenzie in the show.
Co-stars praise Lawrence's personality
Speaking about Lawrence, Katie shared: "I think he was brilliant [last week]. I think everyone will love him. He's such a lovable person. He's so positive. He'll give it his best go. I think he's going to be incredible."
Jeff added: "He's a joy. I share a dressing room with him, and he's just such a lovely man. We all love him and we all want him to do brilliantly, and I think he will because he's a really dedicated human being. He'll give it 110 per cent. He's done musical theatre so he'll know how to shake those hips."
Lawrence admits feeling overwhelmed
When asked if they were backing Lawrence, Jeff quipped: "If it goes on a personality contest, Lawrence will win hands down. Maybe not the dancing ... I don't know about the dancing, but we'll see."
Lawrence previously confessed he was feeling "overwhelmed" ahead of his Strictly debut. "Overwhelmed would be my first word to have used, and I think that's the word that I've used heavily over the last few weeks. Also nervous, trepidatious, but excited is the overriding emotion," he said.
"I've never done anything like this before, and from the very minimal dancing that I've done in the past, I know that it's going to be an uphill battle from the get-go. I think once things kick off, I'll probably understand what I've got myself into!"
Dancing background denied
Lawrence has been accused of having a dance background but he describes his dancing as "lacklustre at best". "Between singing, dancing, and acting, I would place dancing right down at the bottom. But my gosh can I carve up a wedding dance floor with gusto!" he shared.
"I trained under the umbrella of the Dance School of Scotland, but that was doing musical theatre in the same building - I didn't train at the Dance School, so I've never done any Latin or Ballroom. There is a part of me where I hope I might take to it like a duck to water, but I think that may be a pipe dream!"
