DESPITE their great performances on Strictly Come Dancing, Waltham dancing star Kevin Clifton has revealed his dancing partner is far from the perfect pupil.
Kevin, the son of Keith and Judy Clifton, of Cliftons Dance Academy, told a national newspaper that Susanna Reid struggles to learn her steps and things are always left to the last minute because of her busy schedule.
He said: "Because Susanna does such a good job on a Saturday and really comes out on fire, most people assume she is a bit of a natural at it and she gets it straight away.
"It couldn't be further from the truth. Monday, when we have a little bit of time, I show her some steps and she looks at me like I am an alien.
"Tuesday and Wednesday is always a battle. Then we call it 'smash it Thursday'. It is really focused and really intense and we are on deadline and have to nail it, otherwise we will probably get kicked out."
Kevin and Susanna are now the bookmakers' second favourites to win this series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Tonight, they will tackle a quickstep to Tommy Steele's version of Good Morning from Singin' In The Rain.
Each week, Kevin's dad Keith Clifton shares the latest Strictly news and gossip with you in his column, exclusively written for the Grimsby Telegraph. Here is this week's offering... As they say, life is a rollercoaster. One day you're up, the next day you're down; top of the leader board then halfway down. Blackpool was so good, it catapulted Susanna and Kevin into being front-runners but along comes another dance with different technique and they are suddenly back in the pack. To be honest, it's anybody's game. You could make a case for any one of them now. Seriously good dancers are going to be eliminated. I can't remember a previous series that threw up so many possible winners. NOW YOUR VOTES WILL REALLY COUNT. Every single vote for Susanna and Kevin means everyone else will need more votes to beat them. Please, please, please VOTE. The cha cha is not one of those dances that allows passion or commands moments of drama. It is a skills-based dance and your technique is exposed if not danced to a high level of competency. It is a level eight dance at best and the judges have already said the celebs will have to concentrate on technical skills more closely now the finishing line is looming. Their next dance, the quickstep, has a high level of intricacy and danced at speed can be delightful or disastrous. Let's hope the choreography will be exciting in order to raise heartbeats, their technique just as good and then, hopefully, raising the judges' marks. Sometimes the creation and execution of a dance supercedes the feeling of winning. Artistry through dance is a successful outcome in itself. Kevin said after the paso doble that the dance was a magical moment, for both of them, and whatever happens now they will always remember, as will millions of people, that performance. There is now going to be a fine line between technical and performance related issues and that balance cannot be loaded on one side only if progression in the competition is to be assured. Attention to detail is paramount and long ago mentioned problems that still persist are going to come back and haunt the celebrity dancers. The competition is cranking up through the gears and the tough need to get going. There is a hard three weeks to negotiate, please keep the votes coming, they need them so much. The show on BBC1 begins at 7pm and the results show at 7.20pm.Follow us on Facebook and Twitter