Jamie Borthwick has said that he feels he has improved "a fair amount" during his time on Strictly Come Dancing.

The EastEnders star joined this year's series after triumphing with a one-off dance in the Christmas 2023 special and has formed a solid partnership with pro Michelle Tsiakkas.

The couple have delivered solid scores throughout the competition, topping the leaderboard twice, leaving Borthwick pleased with his progress in the space of just a few months.

"I feel like I've improved a fair amount," he said. "Not drastically - I'm not like Nikita [Kuzmin] or Vito [Coppola] but I feel like I've made improvements."

Borthwick, who has been on the BBC soap for the last 18 years since the age of 12, went on to admit that he was in a severe panic when he made his Strictly debut last Christmas.

"I remember... from the Christmas show, that point before when they were reading my name," he recalled. "I was behind the Queen Vic doors, and I was honestly looking for my mum. I was thinking, 'I can't do this.'

"I was panicking and all of a sudden the music started, and I was in it, and then it went away. So I know that the nerves do go when you start dancing, so I'm just going to tell myself that. When you actually start, the nerves will go, and it'll be great when you finish - it'll pass."

Asked if he has any special tricks to come for the rest of the series, he replied: "Only the Borth dance, I'm waiting to whip out the Borth dance."

Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 7.05pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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