Strictly Come Dancing's Kevin Clifton says he still gets 'really nervous' before performing

The professional dancer, who joined Strictly in 2013, said that he tries to keep his pre-show nerves hidden from his celebrity partners because he needs to be there to support them.

The 37-year-old told BBC Breakfast: "I'm all over the place with this sort of thing.

"I'm really nervous before any performance, even on Strictly where it's more my comfort zone, I get nervous before going on."

When hosts Louise Minchin and Dan Walker revealed their surprise at his admission, Mr Clifton said: "It will be before I go and meet my partner, I'll maybe take a few minutes in a room on my own because I don't want them to see that I'm going through this nervous process."

Mrs Minchin said: "I'd be really worried if I saw that you were nervous."

He said he has to be "like a rock" for his partners on the show, so must keep his own nerves under wraps.

The dancer said that he started talking more openly about mental health issues on his podcast, where he initially intended to talk to performers about their mindset and creative process.

He said: "I found that when I'm talking to people it very quickly takes a turn into anxiety and mental health and the mental process that people go through, because it turns out that all performers tend to be a bit nuts."

Mr Clifton, who will soon appear in a stage version of The Wedding Singer, also said he intended to take a few months off work because he has not had much of a break in recent years.

"And everyone keeps telling me, 'You can't just keep working'."

However, he said the chance to appear in The Wedding Singer at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre was too good an opportunity to miss, because he was a big fan of the original film.

he will play lead character Robbie Hart in the musical, originally played by Adam Sandler in the movie.