Astrologer ‘Strictly for laughs’ says Sir Bruce

Strictly host Sir Bruce Forsyth has predicted that astrologer Russell Grant will provide the laughs in this year’s series.

Grant, who found fame on breakfast television in the 1980s, has been compared in some reports to previous contestants John Sergeant and Ann Widdecombe, who became popular despite struggling on the dancefloor.

Sir Bruce said: “You don’t have to be an astrologer to see where the laughs are going to be this year.”

Judge Bruno Tonioli compared Grant – who said he has recently lost about 10st in weight – to a “spinning Tardis … that will take us all into a new dimension of dance”.

But Grant, who said he went from almost 25st to 15st after “two big heart scares”, insisted he was not on the show to make up the numbers.

He said: “I just think that assumptions are made and comparisons are made and we are here as individuals to do our own thing.

“It’s a bit like on Twitter and other social networks – people think they know you and they don’t know you, so it’s up to us to come here and do our thing, to enjoy ourselves and to live life to the full.”

He added: “I’ve come here to dance. I started off in showbiz, I started off in theatre. Astrology took me off in another route …that’s the way it went.”

Meanwhile, Robbie Savage has set his sights on the glitter ball trophy and pledged to “put 100 per cent in” to his attempt to win this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

However, the former footballer admitted he was “the underdog”.