Anton du Beke has said he won’t throw Ann Widdecombe across the Strictly Come Dancing dancefloor as much in the Christmas special for fear he might “break her”.
The Strictly pro will reunite with the former politician – who he was previously paired up with during series eight of the Latin and ballroom show in 2010 – for the festive version.
And while she was always keen for him to chuck her around the dancefloor, Anton is concerned about injuring 71-year-old Ann.
Read more: Strictly Come Dancing announces celebs for Christmas line-up
Speaking on Channel 5 current affairs show Jeremy Vine on Wednesday, he said: “Mostly everybody gets a bit of the chuck and slide whether they want it or not.
“Ann said, ‘Oh I’d love to do that.’ And I said, ‘I’m not sure I can chuck you across,’ and she said, ‘No, no, you must.'”
He continued: “She was so brilliant and game and fun. She wanted to enjoy herself and she wanted to entertain people.
“I’m not going to be chucking her quite as much. I might break her.”
Anton – whose latest celebrity partner was Susannah Constantine, who was eliminated first this series – tries to always give his partners a big routine full of props to make them feel less “self-conscious” about their dancing.
The star added: “What I don’t want to do is make my partner feel really self-conscious.
“Because you’re so out there on your own, on the floor in front of everybody.
“So it’s very important I give them a whole big thing going on so they can sort of hide themselves in it, and be part of it.”
Ann admitted this week she cannot wait to get her dancing shoes on again for the Strictly Christmas special.
She said in a statement: “I am very much looking forward to returning to Strictly, where I shall once again be pushed, pulled, cajoled and coaxed around the dancefloor in all manner of ways by my poor dance partner.
Read more: Strictly legend Ann Widdecombe ‘set to return to the show’
“Who knows, they might even fire me out of a canon.”
The one-off episode will see the famous faces competing to win the Christmas Silver Star trophy.
Ann will be joined by former contestants Caroline Flack, Anita Rani, Aston Merrygold, Jake Wood and Michael Vaughan.
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special will air on BBC One on Christmas Day.
Will you be watching the Strictly Christmas special? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.