Judge Rinder has admitted he had his doubts about succumbing to the fake tan and sparkles of Strictly Come Dancing, but is now fully embracing the glitz and glamour.

The barrister – real name Robert Rinder – said he was initially concerned about how his colleagues in the legal field would view him if he adopted the Strictly style.

Rinder, who is paired with professional dancer Oksana Platero on the BBC programme, told Radio Times: “I had a slight reservation before I started the show about how my colleagues in the law would react to seeing me covered in fake tan and sequins – or, indeed, dressed as a Flintstone patting Oksana’s bottom like a bongo – but Strictly’s so well-loved, I knew they’d view it in the spirit it’s intended.”

And the 38-year-old revealed he has now completely given himself over to the Strictly look.

He said: “Being on Strictly is like going to a fabulous fancy dress party every weekend: you have to go all out, you can’t turn up in a suit.

“‘What have you come as, Rob?’ ‘Well… I’ve come as a football manager’ – I mean, that just wouldn’t do.”

Rinder is so immersed in Strictly now that he finds it “crushing” when one of his routines does not go as planned.

He said: “I loved our Flintstones Charleston, so to have made a mistake was like knowing that all your prep for an exam has gone well, but then the one question you never thought to revise for comes up.

“The sense of fury that I couldn’t have another go was deeply upsetting.

“Of course, we could have had another go had we found ourselves in the dance-off, but I’m grateful to the public we didn’t. So onwards and upwards.”