Strictly Come Dancing comes with a mandatory spray tan, whether you're a pop star or a vicar or a former Shadow Chancellor. But for soap star Joe McFadden, there's a complication.

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Raf di Lucca, McFadden's character in Holby City, is not the kind of man to just go out and get a spray tan just like that. And he's not just come back from a beach holiday, either.

"I actually had to scrub it off for filming yesterday," he tells Radio Times in an interview alongside his new pro partner Katya Jones. "He hasn’t been to the Caribbean. So yes, there was lots of paling down."

Still, luckily his bosses at the BBC soap didn't kick up a fuss. The actor admits: "Perhaps I should have checked that before doing it. But they didn’t mind, they just paled me down."

McFadden will have to keep on the good side of those bosses as he hopes to scale back his filming commitments so he can throw himself into Strictly.

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Joe McFadden as Raf di Lucca in Holby City
Joe McFadden as Raf di Lucca in Holby City (BBC)

"They’ve assured me that they are going to lighten it up for me," he says.

"Whether that happens or not – I think they’ve said that before to people and it hasn’t worked out!"

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Strictly Come Dancing returns on 23rd September

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