Scott Mills has revealed he has found unlikely support from Cheryl Fernandez-Versini as he prepares for his next performance on Strictly Come Dancing.

The BBC Radio 1 DJ said the singer - a judge on rival ITV show The X Factor - has offered her words of support, and told him to ignore judge Craig Revel Horwood's cutting comments.

"Cheryl wished me the best of luck and told me to go out there, do my best and don't listen to Craig. I don't know (if she watched my performances) but she knows I'm doing it," the 40-year-old presenter said.

He added: " I asked her to give a message to the judges to not be mean to me. She agreed and asked if it was Craig who had been mean."

Scott, whose dance partner is Joanne Clifton, is the bookmakers' favourite to leave the BBC show this weekend, after he came bottom of the scoreboard last week. William Hill are offering odds of 4/7 on him to go with Judy Murray at 11/8.

The DJ failed to win judges Craig, Darcey Bussell, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli over with his American Smooth. Craig told him: " You're exception to the rule that anyone can dance. I was worried about your health and safety when you ran like a banshee."

Scott admitted: "Saturday night was pretty tough to take. I thought they were really harsh last week, too harsh. I can take criticism but even I felt quite wounded by it. But by Sunday, I felt like it is what it is. I tried my best and there's nothing more I can do.

"This process is so fast, you just have to leave what happened last week behind pretty quick. You've pretty much got three days to learn something you've never done before so that consumes you, and you don't have much time to dwell on it."

Scott is hoping his Charleston, performed to Tommy Steele's Flash Bang Wallop, will impress the judges this weekend.

"I had no idea what the Charleston was so I had to Google it. Once we started training, I realised it was a load of fun. I've just laughed all through the week. It's been a really positive week," he said.

"The dance is not serious at all because it's a silly song, but it's not a full-on comedy like the crab in Under The Sea. I'm a photographer trying to woo a lady. It's very cheeky - there's a lot of winks and looks to the camera."

Even if the judges fail to be won over, Scott hopes he can survive through to the Halloween episode.

"I'm not going to win this competition, but I would like to do Halloween because it is going to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever dressed up in," he teased. "If I get through, I have an incredible outfit and maybe even new hair!"