Strictly's Bobby Brazier admits he is 'falling in love' with Dianne Buswell

Bobby Brazier has admitted he is "falling in love" with his Strictly Come Dancing partner Dianne Buswell.

The EastEnders star had nothing but praise for his pro dancer partner, but it seems the famous Strictly curse has not struck just yet, as the pair have said they view each other as brother and sister.

Brazier, a model-turned-soap-star whose parents are Jeff Brazier and the late Jade Goody, gushed about how "lucky" he felt to have been matched with Buswell while attending the Pride of Britain Awards.

He told The Mirror: "I could speak about Dianne all day. She's just a diamond - you know what, I'm falling in love with her. She's just great. I feel very lucky."

Australian dancer Buswell, 34, is 14 years older than Brazier, 20, and has previously said she considers him "a little brother".

Read more: What is the Strictly curse and who has fallen for it?

When their pairing was revealed on the Strictly launch show, Buswell told the audience: "I am so happy. I have already adopted Bobby as my little brother, and I already care so much about him, I just want him to have the best time ever."

Buswell is in a relationship with her celebrity Strictly partner from the 2018 series, YouTuber Joe Sugg, while Brazier recently split from fellow model Liberty Love.

Brazier admitted training for the BBC One show had been gruelling, but said that he never worried about whether the routine would come together for the Saturday live show no matter what state it was in mid week.

Asked whether he was a perfectionist in training, he said: "Dianne would say no because I've been taking as many breaks as possible, I've been napping as much as possible. Necessary digestive periods, I call it."

The couple found themselves in fourth place on Saturday night thanks to Brazier's enthusiastic hip wiggling in a Samba inspired by the 1996 Baz Luhrmann film Romeo + Juliet for movie week.

Head judge Shirley Ballas told Brazier he "brought the party", while Craig Revel Horwood added that he "made quite an unnatural dance generally for men look natural".

Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez became the latest couple to be voted out of the contest, with all four judges opting to save Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima instead after the live movie week show.

Les Dennis and Nancy Xu were the first couple to be voted out of the 2023 series, leaving in week two.