Christine Bleakley’s One Show co-host Adrian Chiles has admitted some of her skimpy Strictly Come Dancing outfits make him feel “a bit squeamish”.

Chiles, who describes Christine as his “friend and colleague” said he also felt “a bit fatherly” watching her perform on the prime-time Saturday night show .

But he also spoke of his great pride in her Strictly achievements - even if it meant she was now the more famous of the two.

“I’m enormously proud of her,” he said.

“Though I have to say that my ego is taking a proper bruising.

“Six months ago Christine Bleakley was the woman who sat next to me on The One Show sofa. Now I’m the bloke who presents ‘that One Show thing’ with Christine from Strictly.

“If you look carefully at our publicity shots you’ll see that I’m gradually fading from view. By the time Strictly is over I’ll have vanished completely.”

Adrian, who has been spotted in the studio audience every week cheering on his co-host, said her beaming smile was winning over the public and judges alike.

But he joked that sometimes, when she turned up to work after training, looking “a bit dishevelled”, it took some time and the lure of chocolate snacks, to get her smile back again.

“If her footwork ever fails her the general look of joy on her face seems to win everyone over,” he said.

“Mind you, when the judges say how her smile lights up the room you might see me in the background allowing myself a wry chuckle.

“Because, while they’re right of course, they should see her some days by the time she shows up in the office we share, totally shattered after six hours rehearsing. I’m afraid to say that, on occasion, she has turned up looking a bit dishevelled.

“Somehow though, with a steady supply of gentle encouragement, lavish praise and chocolate-based snacks, I manage to get that smile working again for the benefit of One Show viewers at 7pm every evening.”

The television presenter and radio DJ also told how he was surprised to see how quickly Christine had picked up the dance moves, describing her previous attempts before Strictly as “hopeless”.

“I’ve seen her on the dancefloor at office parties, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, looking nothing like anyone who could possibly string a dance routine together,” he said.

“If there was potential there I really couldn’t see it. But the quite magnificent Matt seems to have worked some kind of magic on her.”

Calling on people to get behind her and keep her in the competition, Adrian also said that as well as being “a great person” and an untrained dancer, she was also holding down an “extremely demanding full-time job” on top of the endless rehearsals.

He said he believed that if she continuned to improve “at the alarming rate she’s already achieving” she could go all the way to the final.

“With her rate of improvement I think she now has the momentum to pull that off if she really want it enough.”

And he ruled out the chance of ever taking part in the show himself.

“Absolutely not in a million years,” he said.

“I’ve seen what my friend and colleague is putting herself through, and, unlike her, I have neither the stamina, time, guts nor talent to do it.”