IPSWICH: Nerves are building for dancer Robin Windsor as he prepares for his debut on Strictly Come Dancing this weekend.

“This is a completely different experience to anything I have done before, I have always performed on a stage in front of a live audience but this time there will be ten million watching at home,” said the 31-year-old ballroom star, originally from Ipswich.

“I have wanted to do the show for a long time but with my shaven head, beard and the fact I am well-built I didn’t think they would want me. I don’t look like your typical ballroom dancer but they have given me a chance.”

Robin, a former Copleston High School pupil, credits Strictly with making ballroom dancing “cool”.

“Ten years ago I was embarrassed to say I was a ballroom dancer because it was daggy, it was something your grandparents did.

“Now I am proud to say I am a ballroom dancer.”

Robin was paired with Holby City actress Patsy Kensit during the launch show of the BBC’s headline show three weeks ago and they have been intensive training sessions in around her busy filming schedule.

Robin said: “From day one it has been all about watching Patsy, seeing what she has got and picking out all the best parts.

“I am dancing with someone who has never danced and I have to try to make her look as good as possible.”

He added: “The first thing I had to do was build up her confidence so I just made a few comments about how amazing she looked.”

Critics have often claimed that the female celebs have an easier ride than the men because their partners can lead them, lift them and spin them, making them look like pros.

“It is a difficult one,” said Robin. “Obviously it is generally the man doing the leading but the female professional dancers can fake it to some extent.

“They can fling themselves and lead themselves.”

For the past nine years Robin has toured the world with Burn the Floor – a contemporary ballroom show that spent six months on Broadway and was a hit in London’s West End.

“The show strips away all the glitz and glamour and gives it a really modern feel so I am hoping I can bring some of that to Strictly.”

Saturday night will give him and his new dance partner a chance to size up the competition for the first time and see what the other couples have done.

-Pass on your good luck messages to Robin. Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk