Strictly Come Dancing latest: Tony Adams’ tense talk with Katya Jones

Tony Adams of Strictly Come Dancing has revealed he had a tense ‘team talk’ with his professional partner Katya Jones before they hit the floor on Saturday.

The footballer admitted he became “frightened” during the dress rehearsal just hours before the live show, and worried about being able to perform, before Katya shared some stern “home truths” with him.

Katya’s strong words paid off as she and Tony achieved their highest score to date, with the judges praising their American Smooth as a tribute to those who helped the athlete through his personal struggles.

On Tuesday’s episode of It Takes Two, Tony told host Rylan Clark, “I was terrified beforehand. We had a team conversation.

‘She [Katya] came into my dressing room after our dress rehearsal and told me a few truths about my reluctance.

“I think she admits it could have gone either way. I could have thrown my toys out of the pram and gone home.

“But I fought the fear and just went for it.”

Katya added: ‘What you said is correct, I took a risk. It could have fallen apart or it could have given him that extra fire in his belly.

“I took a risk because I thought he needed it now. It certainly paid off.’

Providing insight into their backstage feud, Tony recalled his days as a footballer, telling Rylan: ‘The last time I was told that was by George Graham and I left the locker room. I said “that’s not for me anymore, I’m going.”

“Katya is more attractive than George Graham, so maybe that’s why I accepted.”

On Saturday, Tony and Katya scored a solid 26 out of 40 points for their American Smooth performed on With A Little Help from My Friends, by Joe Cocker.

In response to his high score, an excited Tony accidentally cursed during the pre-watershed show, prompting host Claudia Winkleman to apologize for his “fruity language.”

While Claudia discussed his mistake as he went up for his scores, the Arsenal legend remarked: ‘Oh I’m sorry!’ when he realized what he had done, adding that he was so excited by his comments.

Tony’s huge improvement comes after the former Arsenal star admitted he had ‘collapsed’ after his first appearance, leaving him bottom of the standings.

The football star, who has been sober from alcohol and drugs for 26 years after a battle with addiction, described it as a ‘miracle’ that he didn’t go to the pub to ‘drown my grief’.

Tony previously told MailOnline that he entered the competition to show that ‘you can do anything when you are free from booze and drugs’ and shared his inspiring story.

and talk to The sun last week, the dancer-in-training admitted his struggles during the competition – he recalled ‘breaking down’ after his first performance, scoring 15 of the judges’ 40 points.

He shared, ‘When that first dance went like it went, in the car home, I go, ‘This is hard, what am I doing?’

“It’s a miracle I didn’t run to the pub and drown all that grief. It was painful. I cried a lot, but it was okay. You come out the other side,” he explained.

Tony continued his personal growth on the show, praising partner Katya for pushing him and “showing me how strong I am.”

Katya added that he finds the judges’ criticism harsh, saying, “Tony needs about 200 percent credit, which is not possible in this very intense learning process.”

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One at 6:40pm on Saturday.