9:49AM, Sep 25, 2009
Former I'm A Celebrity winner Joe Swash is championing an old school chum who just happens to be in this year's Strictly Come Dancing.
Joe will be supporting Natalie Cassidy.
We caught up with the new captain for forthcoming series of Hole In The Wall, and he had nothing but praise for Natalie.
The two were school mates when they studied acting at the Anna Scher Theatre School and have stayed in touch ever since.
He told us, that these days the former EastEnders actress is tricky to track down. He said:" Natalie's so popular I barely see her, but when we get time we do catch up."
That doesn't stop her from receiving his full support. He raved about her forthcoming Strictly appearance: "She's gonna be fantastic. Whatever Natalie does, she seems to be good at it. I'm really looking forward to seeing her."
He also defended talk of Natalie being pictured in an unflattering light and said : "She's a f***king beautiful girl. She's got an amazing personality and the press can be so fickle. One minute it's all size zero, the next it's somebody's overweight.
"Natalie's had a tough time this year, and I think they should back off a bit. Thing is she's the kind of girl, where it won't bother her in the slightest.
"It will be water off a duck's back. She's not one to dwell on things."
Find out when Strictly Come Dancing is showing on TV.
