STRICTLY is back tomorrow night – and 2018 contestant comedian Seann Walsh knows exactly who to ask for tips and advice.

“I think I’ll give Susan Calman a call,” he smiles. “She can tell me how to deal with it all.”

The Glasgow comedian and Strictly alumnus of 2017 made it all the way to week 10 of the hit Saturday night dance show .

Now fellow comic and actor Seann is following in Susan’s foxtrotting footsteps – although he says he is under no illusion about how far he will get in the competition.

“I would have to be absolutely deluded to think I could win Strictly,” he guffaws, during a quick lunchbreak at training.

“All I want is to make it past week one. I mean, this is such a great opportunity, isn’t it? Why wouldn’t you want to just stay in as long as possible?”

Seann, who is originally from London, is a big fan of Glasgow.

“Last time I was in Glasgow I ended up in a late-night casino, one of those places you have to become a member to get in,” he recalls. “I had to go through this whole signing up thing, a bit worse for wear, and they told me I was actually already a member!”

He laughs: “I had done exactly the same thing and signed up last time I was in Glasgow! I had no idea…..”

Recently, Seann’s stand-up tour of the Highlands was filmed for a BBC iPlayer documentary.

“It was such an unusual tour, we turned it into a documentary,” he says. “I was playing in venues that looked like sheds. People came to see whatever it was that was on, rather than coming to see me. It was incredible.”

This love of Scotland is, he says, hoping to win him some Scottish support when it comes to Strictly voting. He is a huge hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, having clocked up impressive sell-out shows in recent years. This summer, however, he had to cancel when he got the Strictly call.

“It was a real shame, I was looking forward to it, but it would have clashed,” he explains, adding that the cancellation did not ring any alarm bells amongst his friends and family.

“No-one guessed I was doing Strictly,” he says. “Not even when I started to hint to people that I was doing a big television show, and asking them if they could guess what it was. People said Match of the Day 2 and Top Gear. Top Gear? I can’t even drive a car..”

At the launch show, Seann was partnered with Katya Jones, who lifted the glitterball trophy last year with Glasgow actor Joe McFadden.

“She’s very unprofessional,” he deadpans. “She keeps laughing at my serious, sexy tango face.”

The tango? In week one?

Seann laughs: “Yes, I know, people have said that’s a difficult one but to me they are ALL difficult. If I were to describe how I was feeling right now, it would sound like I’m having a terrible time. It’s so difficult. I have never, ever danced IN MY LIFE. Katya will say, just put your arm like this and your hand like that, like it’s the easiest thing in the world. And it isn’t. What normal person puts their body into those positions? No-one.”

He sighs, but instantly brightens. “But I am having a wonderful time. I wannabe a dancer! Forget comedy.”

Seann spent his teenage years in Brighton where he kick-started his comedy career at the age of 20, after his mum lent him money to take a stand-up course.

“I was doing what I thought was the coolest thing in the world,” he said. “I made friends with people that were like me - that loved comedy as much as I did and didn’t feel like they fit in.”

Seann soon became a regular face on his local circuit, and was later nominated for Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year and Chortle Best Newcomer in 2009.

He has since become a regular on ITV’s Play To The Whistle and Channel 4’s Virtually Famous, and Bad Move, Jack Dee’s sitcom, which is on Wednesdays on ITV.

He plays rock star Grizzo.

“Jack Dee is a national treasure,” he says. “He is honestly the most naturally funny and kindest person I know. He is one of my real heroes. I remember going to see him in Brighton when I was a teenager.”

He laughs: “Jack on Strictly? Now THAT I would pay to see.”

Seann’s family and friends are desperate to see his first dance, this Saturday.

“My mum will be coming to see me,” he smiles, adding with mock hurt, “although when I told her I was doing it, she said – but Seann, you can’t dance. And you are so stiff. And tense.”

He laughs: “Yeah, thanks Mum. My friends just laughed at me.”

Seann is not afraid of sequins and hair spray.

“I play Grizzo in Bad Move and he’s always dressed up, with nail varnish and big hair, so I’m fine with it. If we get a rock tune at any point, I will bring full Grizzo.”

Already, wellwishers are approaching Seann on the streets near his London home.

“So far everyone has just been wishing me good luck, and I think that’s really touching,” he says.

“It’s been great – you really couldn’t wish for a lovelier bunch of people. The dancers are amazing and they really are close. That’s not put on.”

After Strictly, Seann will be back on tour.

“After watching me dancing, people can come and listen to me talk nonsense for a couple of hours,” he grins. “Although maybe I’ll add a couple of dances to the routine too.

Seann adds: “Being a comedian or a comic actor is all I’ve ever wanted.”

He adds: “Sometimes you have to take a step back and understand how amazing that is – that I’m here, doing what I always hoped I would do.”

Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One on Saturday at 6.15pm and Bad Move is on ITV at 8pm on Wednesdays.