Strictly Come Dancing 2017: Brian Conley DENIES claims he is desperate to leave show

The comic saidtraining and performing for the show has made him the happiest and healthiest he has ever felt.

He survived last weekend’s dreaded dance off by the skin of his teeth but said that anxiety was nothing compared to his battle with depression.

Brian’s world collapsed after the death of his beloved father, Colin, in 1998 but at first he did not understand what he was going through.

He said: “Initially I was quite unaware what was wrong with me. I said to the doctor ‘I think I am allergic to something – I think it’s milk’.

“For a year I was a bit wobbly but I got myself better again. I am happy to tell people that, yes, I did have depression but I am OK now. It was a long time ago.

“It is something that happens to one in four people and it’s tough but the important thing is just to remember you will get better – you’ve just got to hang in there.”

Brian, 56, started work as a Pontin’s Bluecoat at 16 and has gone on to star in some of the West End’s biggest shows, including Hairspray, Barnum and Oliver!He found fame as a rubber-faced comedian on The Brian Conley Show, which spawned the catchphrase “it’s a puppet!” and sitcom The Grimleys.

He said: “My life has been a bed of roses. I very much appreciate how lucky I am. All my life I have realised I am blessed to get paid to do things I enjoy.“

“The biggest thing that ever hit me was my father’s death. I was very close to my dad.

“He was a cabbie but he loved his opera. As a small child I used to go to Covent Garden with him. He was always extremely encouraging to me, my sister and brother.

“And he would have loved to have seen me on Strictly all dressed up in outlandish costumes and having had a spray tan. He would have absolutely loved that.

Tonight, London-born Brian and his Welsh dancing partner Amy Dowden, 26, will attempt an American Smooth to If I Only Had A Brain from The Wizard of Oz during Movie Week.

They might be the bookmakers’ favourites to be voted off next but Brian described reports he was itching to leave the competition so he could prepare for pantomime season later this year as “utter b******t”.

Last week his youngest daughter Lucy, wife Anne-Marie and mother Pauline watched on nervously in the audience as he stayed and Chizzy Akudolu left.

They were given the best seats in the house because his brother, Alan, is the smash hit show’s floor manager.

Brian said: “I said to him, ‘Al, you realise if I do well you it could affect panto’ and he told me I am not going to win Strictly, which is true.“

“But I am loving all this and want to stay in as long as possible. It’s classic light entertainment, a great family show.

“The dance off was very traumatic for my wife and daughter, but I was fine with it. At the end of the day the public decide who they think should stay.“

“I am doing as well as can be expected for a man of my age. I am exhausted but happy and healthy and really enjoying it – and this is the fittest I have ever been.“

“At the end of the day it’s a dance competition and I am rehearsing, I can assure you of that.

“All I can do is what I always tell my children before they sit exams and that is, if you do your very best there is not a lot else you can do, is there?”