Matt Baker makes little known Strictly confession and reveals advice he gave Len Goodman

Countryfile star Matt Baker shared a little-known bit of information about his Strictly Come Dancing appearance and revealed the advice he gave Len Goodman before his Jive routine

Fans have once again been gripped by Strictly Come Dancing as another batch of famous faces battle it out for the coveted Glitterball trophy.

One person who knows better than most about the intense training regimes and scrutiny the celebrities are put through is Countryfile host Matt Baker. The TV presenter, now 46, was runner-up on the BBC dance contest in 2010. He missed out on lifting the coveted trophy with partner Aliona Vilani in series eight as the pair were narrowly defeated by Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev in the final.

However, he has now happily reminisced on his experience with the Mirror and made a confession about one of his standout performances. During his jive performance, Matt stunned viewers with his athleticism.

Leaping off the judges' panel in week 10 to get straight into his energetic routine, Matt scored an impressive 35/40 for his efforts. However, he revealed to us that the risky beginning was never actually rehearsed - and he warned Len Goodman to sit back.

He told us: "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."

He admitted he loved the training element of the show and it took him back to his gymnastic days; Matt was once a British squad gymnast when he was younger.

"You have a very short amount of time to learn a routine," he revealed. "So in that respect, it's, you know, it's full on. So you learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, practice, practice, and then you go out, and then you you perform it on the Saturday night.

"But you have to get it ready earlier than that, because all the cameras have to see what you're doing so that they can block it. So you've got a lot less time than people think, actually. I relished it. I loved it."

Matt confessed he hasn't been able to keep up to date with this year's contest due to his busy schedule. However, he was on hand to give contestants some telling advice: "Just be yourself in what you do."

Matt was talking ahead of The Countryfile Ramble for BBC Children In Need. It marks the ramble's 10th anniversary, with the events so far raising over £15.4million for the charity.

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