Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli is of course known for being brutally honest, with the emphasis on ‘brutal’ and his remarks about the departure of former judge Alesha Dixon have proved to be predictably blunt!

Alesha of course left the show to take up a role on the judges’ bench at Britain’s Got Talent.

Of her departure, Bruno said, “I’m not disappointed Alesha has left. That is show business.

“People make decision and good luck to them.”

However, he seems a good deal more positive when it comes to his opinion of new judge Darcey Bussell, who’s promised to be “harsh” in her judging on SCD…

He’s quoted by Tellymix as saying, “Darcey is a great lady and will add something new to the show.

“My advice to her is to say exactly how she feels.”

It would seem he also likes this year’s line-up of celeb contestants, of whom he said, “All series are so different but I love this year’s already.

“What’s exciting is in every series the celebrities get better and better.”

And that is of course what Sid Owen is hoping he’ll do in by the time Strictly Come Dancing airs the live shows on BBC One as of October 5…

However, in case his dancing doesn’t work out as well as he’d hoped, Sid has a secret weapon to win votes.

He said, “If all goes well and I lose a bit of weight, I might get my pecs out and try to appeal to the ladies – or will that put them off?”

Well, I for one have always had a bit of a crush on Sid, so that’ll do for me Tommy!

But apropos of Sid and his dance partner Ola Jordan, the BBC has just released a first look at the pair dancing together.

Here’s the clip…