AJ Pritchard has dished out behind-the-scenes secrets from Strictly Come Dancing, which he was apart of from 2016 to 2019.
The 27 year old, who was recently seen packing on the PDA with his new love Zara Zoffany, revealed all his tricks in an exclusive interview with OK! magazine.
Describing himself as a "super fan" of the programme despite leaving two years ago to pursue other TV opportunities, AJ has been watching the 20th anniversary series with keen interest.
Recalling his own time as a professional dancer, the star explained the cheeky techniques he used to get the crowds cheering and the judges impressed before ever being shown live on TV.
He shared: "I think one of the secrets – I wouldn't want to say this is a secret – but more this is something you probably haven't thought about… So when you do the show Strictly, obviously we know it is live TV. Good, bad, different – if something goes wrong, we see it. If it goes good, we see it.
"But the part when I was often called to auditorium, up in that era – whilst you're sat home having your cup of tea your biscuits, your snacks, the VT is on and we are walking down on the floor."
AJ, who recently broke up with fellow dancer Abbie Quinnen after four years together, continued: "I would always use that opportunity to walk onto the floor and try and get my partner to do the whole dance once through. So the judges, Craig [Revel Horwood] and Shirley and Motsi [Mabuse], can see how good my partner is."
This isn't the only trick he had up his sleeve though as he shared how he would use the VT time to hype the audience up, appearing to give the illusion to fans at home that they were particular favourites as they walked on to the stage.
He said: "Plus, just before we go live, you'll have the floor manager going "four, three, two one," and pointed at you so you know you're live.
"But just before that I would literally make the audience scream and get really loud, go a bit crazy so that it sounds like they're excited for us – even if that's a bit of peer pressure technique. But it always works, so I always did it."
It comes after AJ recently defended Shirley Ballas, calling her the "most qualified judge" on the panel, after fans demanded she be sacked.
Shirley, 62, was accused of being "sexist" after explaining she would have saved Richie Anderson, 34, and his pro partner Giovanni Pernice, 32, on Sunday 9 October night following their dance off with Fleur East, 34, and Vito Coppola, 30.
She's since hit out at the trolls on several occasions and now AJ has come to her defence as well.
"For me, Shirley is so passionate about the technique that is Ballroom and Latin and she's so qualified for that job," he explained to OK!. "She was one of my Latin teachers – I was in awe of her because every single time I had a lesson, I'd think, 'I can't get any more information out of this person', and should give a new technique, a new style, a new observation of Ballroom and Latin dancing."
AJ went on to explain that her role on the judging panel is "really important" as she is the "most qualified judge that you can have in the whole of the world".
When asked if he had ever observed any kind of favouritism towards the male celebrities while he was part of the show, he simply replied: "No, I don't think so."
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