Nigel Harman has said that when he wakes up in the middle of the night, he has do the weekly Strictly Come Dancing routine to “go back to sleep”.

The Casualty star, 50, is partnered with professional dancer Katya Jones on the latest series of the BBC One show.

When asked about the hardest part of competing, former EastEnders actor Harman replied: “Towards the weekend, I always wake up at about two in the morning, in the middle of the dance routine… always on a Friday night.

Strictly Come Dancing 2023
Nigel Harman and Katya Jones performing on Strictly (Guy Levy/BBC)

“And it’s (as) you know, we all wake up in the morning when we’re in our REM sleeps and… (after those) four hour-ish  cycles, and it’s when that happens that I’m deep in the middle of a dance and I can’t get back to sleep for about half an hour.

“So basically, I (have) to lay there dancing through my dance a few times until my body goes, ‘Okay… you still remember it, It’s okay’ and then I go back to sleep.

“So that’s the thing because really all I wanted to do is sleep for all the time when I’m not dancing.”

Jones said that Harman has sent her text messages “a couple of times” to help confirm the routine so he can make sure he can return to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night.

Harman also said: “I don’t have nightmares about the scoring because that’s their (the judges) business, I can’t influence that, I can just dance.”

He also said he was most surprised by how “lovely and loving” Strictly’s contestants and production crew have been.

Harman added: “There’s a certain pressure with performing here because you’re learning something new that you wouldn’t actually normally be learning.

“Normally when I perform live, it’s because I’ve been practising it for months and been doing it for decades so (for) that (reason) I’ve actually really enjoyed (the last) couple of weeks, that (my) nerves really sort of took over.

“That was really fascinating and it’s more… I wouldn’t say (I’m) nervous as much as there’s this excitement and these adrenaline waves that come with it, so now I’m getting used to them and there’s a part of me… that quite looks forward to Saturday nights now, to see what that energy will bring.

“So in terms of emotional mental health… (I’m) kind of intrigued and excited by that and I’m meditating as much as I can, which really helps so it’s another kind of little unexpected gift that the show brings you is… you’re just getting to know yourself better and dealing with… what is an extreme environment.”