Mike Bushell’s wife Emily has said she loves his new “leaner” appearance, thanks to his Strictly Come Dancing training.

The BBC Breakfast sports presenter, who is partnered with professional dancer Katya Jones in the BBC One series, has shed a considerable amount of weight in recent weeks.

Mike and Emily, who tied the knot in May, appeared together on BBC Breakfast, and presenter Dan Walker asked the couple about his colleague’s new slimmed-down look.

Walker said: “Emily, stereotypically, when a man gets married he tends to put on a bit of weight, but Mike has transformed.”

Mike said: “I think it’s a stone and a couple of pounds, approaching a stone and a half – it just increases each week.”

Emily joked that he is “fading away”, before adding: “It just goes to show the exercise he’s doing, it’s really transformed him.

“I’m loving the new, leaner Mike.”

Mike, 53, quipped that he is “less clumsy now” and that he has a “sharper mind”, with which Emily jokingly disagreed.

The sports host avoided elimination from Strictly at the weekend, after being in the bottom two with former footballer David James and his partner Nadiya Bychkova.

Mike and Katya were unanimously saved by the judges after performing their salsa again, while David and Nadiya were sent home in Sunday’s broadcast, which drew an average of 9.3 million viewers and a peak of 10.1 million, making it the most-watched show of the night.

They will both dance in the Halloween special of the show on Saturday.