Simon Rimmer reveals how he’s feeling ahead of the first Strictly Come Dancing live show

As the Strictly Come Dancing contestants are getting ready for their first dance on Saturday, celebrity chef Simon Rimmer and his dance partner have been speaking about how the training is going.

Speaking to Hits Radio Simon said he had been finding the training tough and was "terrified" about the live show on Saturday, however his dance partner Karen encouraged him saying he's "doing good", although she admitted he needed to work on his flexibility.

Simon, who is more at home in the kitchen than on the dance floor, said he'd never danced before, so he didn't think he was doing too badly for a 54-year-old, but he was very nervous about the live show.

Simon and Gemma Atkinson have both been hard at work training for eight hours every day. As they are training near each other they said have become good friends and been encouraging each other, with Simon even describing Gemma's dancing as "brilliant".

Simon announced last week that his first dance will be a Paso Doble to Blur's 'Song 2', so we can't wait to see how he performs on Saturday.

Whilst all the training is taking its toll on Gemma with her feet now covered in bruises and plasters, to her surprise her appetite has grown.

Yesterday Gemma revealed that she can't stop eating now that she's training so much. She has swapped her 'go to' Nando's superfood salad for a chicken wrap with sides and even had two croissants for breakfast when she wouldn't normally dream of eating that many.

Good luck to both Simon and Gemma as they take to the dance floor on Saturday evening.

Tickets for the Strictly Come Dancing tour are already available to buy through the Aloud.com pre-sale. Find out how to get your tickets to the tour on Aloud.com

Now that the contestants have been paired up, check out the partners in their costumes ahead of Saturday's show:

• Gemma Atkinson
• Simon Rimmer
• Strictly Come Dancing