James Bye has revealed his fellow EastEnders star and the reigning Strictly Come Dancing champion Rose Ayling-Ellis offered him advice before he took to the dancefloor.
The 38-year-old British actor, who has played Martin Fowler in the BBC One soap since 2014, is currently competing in the new series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Speaking alongside his professional partner Amy Dowden ahead of Sunday evening’s results show, Bye said: “Rose is just like a ray of sunshine and her only advice to me was just take every second in as it goes so quick.
What do we like about James and Amy's Jive? Everything 👏 #Strictly@jimmybye @dowden_amy pic.twitter.com/CXAht9WoYU
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) September 24, 2022
“Bear in mind she was there every week, she did the full thing and she said even that went so fast.
“You make friends so quickly, don’t throw anything away, just enjoy every moment and that’s sort of what we’re doing to be fair.
“I don’t feel like I’m wasting any moment, we are going for it, every opportunity, and the choreography this week is incredible and the song is great, so let’s just hope I don’t balls it up again!”
Ayling-Ellis, 27, won the nineteenth series of Strictly in 2021 with partner Giovanni Pernice after she become the first deaf contestant to compete in the popular dancing competition.
Bye is currently in the penultimate spot on the Strictly leaderboard after he failed to impress the judges with a retro-themed jive to What I Like About You by The Romantics in week one, picking up a score of 22 for his efforts.
Bye also revealed that 32-year-old Dowden has been visiting him on the set of EastEnders so the pair can practise and keep up with the demanding dance schedule when Bye is filming.
He said: “Amy came over to EastEnders on a couple of days actually this week and we got a bit done offset and we showed some of the other guys at EastEnders.”
To which Dowden added: “They’ve been so supportive, they loved it, they were all cheering you!”
Bye continued: “The support at EastEnders is amazing. I genuinely feel really, really lucky to have that sort of team behind me.”
During the feedback Bye received after his performance last weekend, Anton Du Beke reflected on some of the mistakes the actor made, joking: “I like it, if you’re going to go wrong, go completely wrong just stand still and pick it up eventually”, but added that he thought it was a “good number”.
Actor Will Mellor and wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin are currently joint top of the Strictly leaderboard after they both impressed the judges in week one.
Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps star Mellor, 46, performed an electric jive to Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin with his partner Nancy Xu which impressed judges Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas so much that they gave him a standing ovation and he ended up with a score of 34.
Meanwhile, 32-year-old Yassin and his partner Jowita Przystal also dazzled with their joyful foxtrot to Islands In The Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers to secure their 34 points.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One.