Jacklin’s Strictly promise to pal Bernard

Tony Jacklin is hoping Strictly will give pal Bernard Gallacher a twinkle-toed pick-me-up.

Tony has revealed he wants to avoid the chop long enough for his fellow Ryder Cup skipper to see him on the dance floor.

Sunday Post columnist Bernard collapsed with a cardiac arrest while giving an after dinner speech in Aberdeen last month but is now on the mend.

“It was a great shock to me when I heard of his heart attack,” said Tony as he gears up for next weekend’s first elimination show. “I’m just thankful it looks like he’ll come out of it with no long term problems.

“We’ve spoken and if I stay in this thing then the intention is for Bernard and his wife Lesley to come along one night. He’s not been before but I think the fact I’m in it has him interested. It’d be lovely to have him.”

Tony, who made his debut on the show on Friday, also revealed the concerned conversations he had with big golf fan Bruce Forsyth over their mutual friend.

And he gave his backing to the 85-year-old showbiz legend after recent criticism that he was getting too old to continue presenting the BBC show.

“I’ve known Bruce for 50 years and he’s nothing short of amazing. To be doing what he’s doing at his time of life is fantastic.”

Florida-based Tony’s Stateside commitments meant pro partner Aliona Vilani had to fly out for training sessions. But the 69-year-old former Open winner is well aware he’s up against it this week.

“We had three weeks for that waltz, we’ve only got five days to learn the Charleston,” he said. “I’d never watched Strictly before I signed up so when I said yes I was a bit nave.

“I’m doing four hours a day of rehearsals with Aliona and that’s the maximum for me.

“I had no idea how demanding it would be. I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I’ve constantly got all these moves running through my head.”

The judges’ scores from this weekend’s two shows will be combined with their marks next Saturday and count towards Sunday’s first exit.

“I’m trying to teach him that multi-tasking isn’t just a woman’s thing,” added Aliona.