BBC Strictly Come Dancing star reveals judges behind the scenes 'preparations' ahead of live scoring

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Darren Gough has been lifting the lid on what goes on behind the scenes of the hit dance show while alos giving his thoughts on this year's contestants.

It's set to be a spooktacular weekend in the ballroom as during the next live show on Saturday night (October 26) the 11 couples who made it through to week six of the BBC One dance contest will take to the dance floor once again, this time dressed in spooky attire as the Halloween festivites take over the ballroom.

But will the celebrities and their professional dance partners be in for a trick or treat as they attempt to impress the judges - Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke once again?

READ MORE: Seven BBC Strictly Come Dancing stars have 'reason to worry' over Halloween week

It's fair to say the foursome have come under fire from Strictly viewers in recent weeks due to their scoring. A month into the BBC One dance contest's latest run last weekend and @__d4nedison said: "The judges scoring will never ever ever EVER make sense to me?! #Strictly," among others branding their last scores 'bonkers' and 'insane'.

Former Strictly champion Darren, the former cricketer who was one of the early winners of Strictly when he lifted the Glitterball during the third series back in 2005, has now given some insight into the judges' workings. Asked for 'trad secrets' from Strictly that viewers probably wouldn't know, he told OLBG: "Yeah, I mean, there's quite a few actually..."

Sharing how it worked when he was on the show almost 20 years ago, Darren said: "You get your song and you get told after the show what dance you’re going to be doing the next week - you might even get told before the actual weekend show for next week, just in case you get through.

"From then, you get a CD and you train wherever you train, whether it be in a gym, studio, at home, you train to that CD (which is a certain speed). You then practice that throughout the week and get used to that rhythm - you dance to that rhythm.

"You turn up on a Friday night where you go into the BBC studio and you try and fit that dance you learnt in a gym or in a studio into the BBC studio, which is a specific size. It's the weirdest feeling ever, you say, I can't do this, I can't fit it into the studio and you get two goes at it - that's it.

"You get two goes to a CD with the other dancers there so they get to see you for the first time as well - so you're judging everyone else, right? The judges don't see you then. You turn up Saturday, you get one more go to a CD on the Saturday. You get one go to a live band and then it all changes again because it's a different tempo. Someone's singing the song you've been practising to a CD all week. We all know live performances compared to a CD are totally different. So again, your head is scrambled, it's mad."

It's then when he shared: "Two o'clock full live rehearsal and I believe that's where the judges get a lot of their info from because they have to prepare as well. They have to have some idea what they're going to do. I believe they watch that live rehearsal. Well, they're there. They're watching that live rehearsal and they get their little bits from there. Then, unless a disaster happens, in the evening, right, they get a lot of their info from that live rehearsal at 2pm on the Saturday."

Darren also tipped Jamie Borthwick to win the show, with Tasha Ghouri not far behind. He said: "It's been interesting actually watching it. I think there were quite a few obvious ones who were going to go out and I think one went out last weekend, a good mate of mine Paul Merson. It was a bad dance for him and he was always going after watching that over the weekend.

“There's one person that does stand out at this moment in time. It happens in every Strictly and it doesn't mean they go on and win it but they have a very good chance the way the format is now.

"That is Jamie Borthwick. I think he's got everything really. He's got the look, he's got energy, he has the character of every dance because of his acting skills, he has a great partner, Michelle and they just really hit it off together and they’re so good. He's so far ahead of everyone else on that show.

He added: "Tasha is not far behind. She's got that elegance on the dance floor, she's got the look as well, and she's got the steps - she knows how to dance. So those two are the standout two, but I think Jamie is by far the favourite."