I'M SO SICK OF HUFFERS!

STUNNING Strictly dancer Katya Virshilas has revealed she's had her PHIL of batting ex-cricketer Tufnell into shape - because of his constant WHINING.

Viewers' favourite Tuffers has to be yelled at and even playfully slapped to get his twinkle-toes moving.

Katya explained: "I get frustrated. I hit him last week. On Tuesdays it's the worst because he comes in and goes, 'Oh I will never get it.'

"I have to be his shrink and his teacher and his friend - yet I still have to listen to all the whining and the bitching.

"My biceps have grown about 2cm since we started training together. I told him I felt like I was holding furniture all day.

"He keeps going, 'I can't do it, I can't do it' and I get annoyed. We shout because we're aggressive people."

Phil, 43, confirmed: "Every Tuesday there are big fights. There's shouting and punching. She tells me I am 'like a fish' because I am always flopping around.

"I don't find being bossed around by Katya invigorating at all - I find it hard work. Very hard work."

Even Phil's wife Dawn admitted: "He thought Strictly would be a laugh but Katya has had to take him in hand. He can be a lazy sod! At least this gets him off the couch."

Brick

Katya spoke out after getting complaints from Phil's female fans because he wrote on Twitter that she'd thrown a pen at him.

She said: "I didn't throw it hard. It was out of frustration. Phil keeps reminding me who he is - a legend!"

But Katya, 25, who arrived in the UK this year, had never even HEARD of her celeb partner before.

"I'm reading his biography and learning a lot about him. I'm sure glad I didn't read it before I met him!"

Phil's past exploits include heavy smoking, boozing and womanising. His ex-wife Lisa claimed he caused her "anxiety, stress and an eating disorder".

And he got hit in the face with a brick by ex-girlfriend Jane McEvoy's dad after slapping her. In 2003 Phil won ITV show I'm A Celebrity. On Strictly, he had to have keyhole surgery to repair a ligament in his knee earlier this month.

Phil said: "This is much harder than I'm A Celeb - that was great fun. It was just sitting about having a chat, drinking some wine and eating a few bugs.

"This is actually hard work. I played cricket for 20 years - not a mark on me. I dance for a couple of weeks and I injure my knee.

"Obviously, dancing is not ideal rehab. It is nerve-wracking. On the inside my heart is racing.

"I haven't really turned to anything for help. Some people start drinking - I've done that. Smoking - done that."

To help him learn, Katya has turned the rehearsal studio into a cricket field.

Phil said: "We go sacheting down to third man then we pivot off to the slips."

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