Strictly Come Dancing star Rhys Stephenson needed a "slap" from professional Nancy Xu to get over his stage fright.
The CBBC presenter, 27, says he was so nervous before taking to the dancefloor that he had to ask his partner to take drastic measures.
He managed to overcome his nerves to wow the judges with a stunning Viennese waltz thanks to 29-year-old Nancy's intervention.
He told OK! : "I was about 80% excited and 20% nervous. When the show begins and they say, 'Rhys and Nancy, you guys are up', that’s when I’m paralysed with fear. So I told Nancy to give me a couple of quick slaps across the face and I’d be fine."
The pressure was all the more consuming thanks to the fact that Rhys went into the competition as one of the bookies' favourites.
He said: " I didn’t understand what they had seen to be able to make those assumptions! It was flattering, obviously, but there was a little bit of added pressure. Before the show started, friends of mine said they wanted to bet on me and I was like, 'Don’t do that, let’s just wait'."
Nancy, who is competing in the BBC contest with a celebrity partner for the first time, admitted she was feeling the pressure too.
She said: "Yes but I wanted to go for it. I wanted to push Rhys too, because I knew what he could do. I’m tough."
"It’s literally like military school. Drills and everything," Rhys joked.
Despite the show's anticipated return, viewing figures have dipped compared to the 2020 series.
In 2020 viewing figures for the second week peaked at 10.7 million, and this year, 8.2million tuned into the same episode.
But the latest figure still beats the 7.9million who watched in 2019.
A spokewoman for the broadcaster said: "BBC executives are absolutely delighted that the show attracted an average of 8.2million viewers overnight on Saturday night.
"They aren’t comparing it to last year’s shorter series which took place later on in the year and tied in an impending second national lockdown."
* Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday and Sunday nights on BBC One
