The presenter has opened up about her testing time on the show

Former star Alex Jones has confessed to making her dance partner James Jordan cry during the early days of her time on the show.

The 41-year-old presenter made the revelation while chatting with fellow Strictly alumni Mark Wright and Mollie King on ITV's . She explained: "I was so hideous. I don't know how I lasted so long. I remember the first day of training my dance partner [James Jordan] actually cried, he was like, 'I thought you might have some rhythm!'"

Alex Jones and James Jordan were partners in the 2011 series

Alex originally signed up for the show after being inspired by her former co-host of , Matt Baker, who came second place in the previous year's competition. Despite eleven weeks of ups and downs - including a spat with Craig Revel Horwood, who called Alex's Charleston performance "cold and stiff" - Alex and James made it to the show's semi-final in 2011.

After the public voted Alex out, she said: "I've had an incredible time, and when I'm old and grey I'll look back at these three months and I'll think 'that was a brilliant time'."

James, who was a professional dancer on the show between series four to 11, had nothing but praise for Alex at the time. He told her: "If there was a trophy for the most improved dancer, for sure you would have won that trophy. You have been absolutely brilliant to work with, it has been an honour."

The pair made it through to the semi-finals

Harry Judd went on to win the trophy that year with dance partner Aliona Vilani.

With this year's series due to start on Saturday 8 September, Alex has also heavily hinted at which contestant she'll be rooting for. The Welsh star told Mollie and Mark: "I'm excited about this year though. I hope Stacey Dooley does really well, she's such a sweet girl - I think she's going to be fantastic."

Alongside Stacey, other contestants include Katie Piper, Lee Ryan, Dr Ranj Singh and Kate Silverton. Take a look at the brand-new advert to get you in the mood for dancing.

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