The Saturdays singer Frankie Bridge is saying her bandmate Mollie King is “panicking” she won’t pick up the routines quickly enough when she competes on Strictly Come Dancing.

King was the first celebrity contestant to be announced for the 2017 series and Bridge, who took part in 2014 with professional partner Kevin Clifton, said she is looking forward to watching her.

Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour Photocall – Birmingham
Frankie Bridge with partner Kevin Clifton (Joe Giddens/PA)

She told ITV’s Lorraine: “I can’t wait. I’m not surprised at all because when I was doing it Kevin sometimes came to work with me to do little bits of rehearsals and she always wanted a go with Kevin.

“I knew she would love it and she will be great. I can’t wait to watch her.”

She continued: “She will look amazing in those costumes but she finds it a little bit harder to pick things up and that is what she is panicking about, and I’m just like ‘oh my god please just love the whole thing’ because when it’s over you want to do it again.”

Bridge, who is fronting a new three-part series about online trolls, said she would take part in the dancing competition every year if she got the chance.

King will compete against stars including Emmerdale’s Gemma Atkinson, EastEnders actor Davood Ghadami and comedian Susan Calman.

The next contestant will be announced today on Steve Wright’s Radio 2 show.