With hours of physically exhausting and complex daily rehearsals, it’s no surprise Strictly Come Dancing’s celebrity contestants often find themselves losing weight throughout the process.
And Holby City actor Joe McFadden, 42, has found he’s no exception after shedding more a stone so far.
The competition enters its fifth week of live performances this weekend and the costume department has had to take in Joe’s clothing to account for his increasingly slimmer figure.
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He told Daily Star: “I’ve lost a stone doing all this dancing.
“I’m slim anyway but now I’m getting slimmer and slimmer and the wardrobe department keep taking my trousers in.
“I’m always hungry but I have to be careful what I eat. No pie and chips! It’s usually chicken or salad.”
And weight loss isn’t the only side effect Joe’s experiencing through Strictly: he’s also developed a newfound love for fake tan!
Speaking on Lorraine earlier this week, he said: “It doesn’t last very long and you get addicted to it!
“I had double dark a couple of weeks ago, then had it again and thought it wasn’t quite as dark – but it was.
“I think you just get used to it. You have to embrace it!”
Joe and pro partner Katya Jones will perform a Paso Doble to Diablo Rojo by Rodrigo y Gabriela this Saturday night.
Katya told Lorraine: “Our main battle isn’t the dancing so much, it’s the mental side, the calm and being able to deliver what we’ve done in the studio.”
Agreeing, Joe said: “I am feeling good!
“Mondays are terrifying as you have all this information thrown at you and think, ‘Ah! I have to know all this in four days!’
“You just have to give yourself a good talking to and think, ‘It’s okay. We have the time to learn this, just calm down’.”
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Joe and Katya will only have three judges to impress on Saturday, as Bruno Tonioli will be absent.
He’ll miss the weekend’s shows as he’ll be in Los Angeles filming for Dancing with the Stars, the US version of Strictly.
Rather than getting in a guest judge, bosses have decided Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell will judge as a threesome.