Strictly Come Dancing’s Brendan Cole hints could hang up his dancing shoes as he reveals judging is easier than performing
The professional has been putting the fancy footwork of Strictly's New Zealand contestants under the spotlight for five years
STRICTLY professional Brendan Cole has hinted he is ready to DITCH his dancing shoes for a permanent judging role, revealing he has an "easier" time on the panel.
The BBC One dancing star, who is in the frame to replace retiring head judge Len Goodman, has put the fancy footwork of New Zealand competitors under the spotlight for the past five years.
Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan quizzed: "Is it easier to be a judge or a dancer?" to which he bluntly replied: "Judge, any day.
"With dancing there is so much responsibility on your shoulders to make it right for your partner for yourself, a different routine every week.
"It's more the mental side of things you've got to coax them through."
Piers, a former Britain's Got Talent judge, then quipped: "And you can tell them they suck!"
Brendan confessed: "I felt it very easy to be honest and I know what I'm talking about."
Earlier in the chat, Strictly's first ever champion denied he had officially applied for Len's head judge role - but revealed he would take it if it were on the table.
Brendan, 40, told the presenting pair: "I would love it.
"You'd have to do it, it's amazing."
Yet there seemed to be some angst in the studio when it was revealed both Karen Hardy and Kevin Clifton are, according to bookies, might pip him to the judges' table.
Piers noted: "You're not happy with those odds, at least the first few.
"You said 'who the hell are they to be above me?'"
Brendan replied: "That's fine.
"I'm not going for the job, but I would love the job.
"Len is irreplaceable. Whoever does take the role has to make it their own."
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In the candid chat he also revealed the "hideous" experience of being confronted with a hoax which suggested he was dead.
It followed his battle with pneumonia in October.
The star took to Twitter to confirm he was still in the land of the living, after one news outlet claimed he had died.
He wrote: “Ok…Very disturbing..I have just been informed that I am dead! Horrified & bemused about the @CNN reporting this!”
Opening up on the ordeal he said: "It was quite a hideous time.
"It's a horrible thing for anyone to see, but people did think it was real."