Charlotte Hawkins reveals how Piers Morgan flashed through her mind before her Strictly 'dance disaster'
The Good Morning Britain presenter was dreading the first elimination – because she couldn't face co-star Piers Morgan if she was voted off
No wonder Charlotte Hawkins had a "dance disaaaster" on Saturday night: just before she Cha Cha Cha'd out on to Strictly dance floor she was thinking about Piers Morgan.
Good Morning Britain presenter Piers has made it his mission to tease her about Strictly Come Dancing – and that's exactly what his co-star was worried about.
"It did flash through my head on Saturday night, that I just thought, 'please, please do not let me be first out, because I don't think I can go to work on Monday and face Piers if I don't even make it through'," she tells RadioTimes.com.
"I knew I was going to have a rough time anyway, and it's safe to say that Piers didn't hold back when it came to criticising my dancing. He had very clear opinions on that and he basically says that the whole reputation of the programme, their reputations are all on the line depending on how well I do. So he's taking it very seriously, no pressure there, but he's made it quite clear that I need to buck my ideas up start to look better."
Piers grabbed the opportunity to take a shot at Charlotte for her dancing skills after her Cha Cha Cha scored just 12 points, asking her: "Had you been drinking?"
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He wasn't the only one to tear her apart after the dance went dramatically wrong.
The judges' reactions were so negative that her pro partner Brendan Cole launched a passionate Twitter rant, writing: "What I object to is belittling someone who has worked hard and is clearly upset at the situation. I have no time for negativity when someone is down!"
"It was really lovely of him, because I felt I'd let him down as well," Charlotte says. "It's awful because they've spent all those hours training, he has faith in me that I was going to be able to do it, and we're a team - we're a partnership. And I desperately wanted it to go well for him as well as for me.
"I was really touched by the fact that he felt so strongly about it, that he wanted to speak out like that."
But what did go wrong?
From the very beginning of that painful Cha Cha Cha to Maroon 5's Sugar Charlotte and Brendan were in trouble, leading up to the finale with a very awkward spin.
"I still don't quite know what happened," she says. "I just missed one step and that threw off the whole of the rest of the dance."
Charlotte vividly remembers how it felt to be out on that dance floor with millions watching as she messed up her routine.
"You feel like someone's just ripped the rug out from underneath your feet," she remembers. "You literally suddenly feel like you've stepped off a cliff edge and you're free falling and I was like, 'AAH - I actually don't know what to do! I've just completely messed up the dance.' And that was right at the beginning as well.
"And I just looked into Brendan's eyes and he was just like, 'Keep dancing you've got to do this.'"
But having made it all the way to the end of the performance and avoided the dreaded dance-off, Charlotte has big plans to bounce back in Movie Week with a Tango to the Top Gun song Danger Zone.
"I just really want to throw myself into this week and make sure that I come back better and stronger," she declares.
"I haven't felt this alive for ages. Strictly gives you so much energy, it gives you so much enthusiasm I can't describe it. But it really does bring you to life at the same time. So I've loved it, I've really loved it."
And the Tango face? "Sorted."
Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday 7th October at 6.35pm on BBC1
