Strictly Come Dancing routines are 'taxing', says Jody Cundy

Jody Cundy's dancing partner on Strictly Come Dancing is Jowita Przystal

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Jody Cundy has spoken of the "taxing" battle he faces to learn new routines.

The Paralympian, from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, wears his prosthetic leg in the hit BBC show.

He told BBC Breakfast the "mental part" of dancing was "getting me".

"Learning the steps, the constant repeating stuff... I cannot get my left leg and my right leg to do what my brain is telling me ... and that is really taxing," he said.

Strictly Come Dancing involves 15 celebrities being paired up with a dancer to perform a routine that impresses the judges.

Jowita Przystal, his dance partner on Strictly, said the competition was a "big challenge" and "stressful".

"We throw somebody who's never danced before in the room, telling the person: 'You have four days to learn the routine, to perfect it, and perform it in front of millions of people,'" she added.

Jody Cundy has won 23 international medals

Mr Cundy said: "The most used phrase in the dance room at the moment is 'again' and 'one more time'."

The 44-year-old said he was not in a "competitive mood" until the first dance, which aired on BBC One on 23 September.

"Then all of a sudden the music starts and you just switch on to what you've been doing in the studio," he said.

Mr Cundy joins other sports stars from Cambridgeshire who have taken part in the show - Paralympian Lauren Steadman and Olympian Louis Smith, both from Peterborough, and Paralympic sprinter Jonnie Peacock, from Doddington.