Not the winner says Eamonn

He said: “Bookies have her as 66/1 outsider. She is not going to win. At the end we have never had a winner that you could say, ‘You can’t dance.’ The last three are always very good. She could go three, four or six weeks into it.”

Eamonn said he was proud of Ruth, also 57, and she was “working hard to improve”.

He said: “There are not enough hours. She has four other jobs. She does a lot. My job is to be there for her.”

Ruth pulled a hamstring on Friday but managed to perform the Charleston last night with Anton du Beke. Judges praised her “100 per cent improvement” on the first week.

Meanwhile, Eamonn joked about the relationshipwrecking Strictly curse, saying he will only worry “if Ruth and Anton wear matching outfits”.