John Sergeant has admitted that he is touched by the support he has received from Strictly Come Dancing viewers.

The broadcaster made it through the first round of the competition at the weekend after being backed by viewer votes and the panel of judges.

Speaking on BBC Two spinoff It Takes Two, Sergeant explained: “I think what was nice was the feeling that an awful lot of people thought: ‘Poor old boy, is he going to be able to do it?’ and then ‘Ooh, not so bad’.”

“Maybe the gamble’s paid off,” he continued. “There’s all of that going on behind the scenes, in terms of what people expect of someone like me, and I’m hoping that lots of people have thought: ‘Well, that was worth it. It was worth doing it – it does show you can do it.’”

Sergeant also insisted that there is no rivalry between the show’s celebrity contestants – as they are only struggling to match their own expectations.

“That’s one of the great things about it,” he said. “You think it’s a competition but in a real competition you’re sort of fighting to get ahead of the other person, whereas we’re trying to reproduce our rehearsal performances. It’s a very different kind of contest.”

Strictly continues on Saturday at 6.45pm on BBC One.