Tina O'Brien ('Strictly Come Dancing')

Despite donning a sexy skintight catsuit and dancing her way through a seductive Argentine tango, Tina O'Brien failed to impress the viewers at home at the weekend and became the latest celebrity eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing. We caught up with the pint-sized actress yesterday to chat about her time on the show, her pro partner Jared Murillo and her girl crush on Kara Tointon.

How are you feeling this morning Tina?
"I feel heartbroken. I do. My heart really hurts and I'm going to miss it so much."

How much fun have the last eight weeks been?
"It has been by far the happiest experience of my life. I can't even tell you, it has meant so much to me. At times, it is the scariest thing I've ever done, going out in front of 11 million people on live TV is really scary. But I found a new confidence within myself that I didn't really think I had. To stand up there regardless, being judged and people thinking what they may, to find the confidence within myself to do that... it has been good for me."

It came as a shock to me that you went. Were you surprised that you were in the bottom two?
"Well... I kind of said to Jared I think we may be in the bottom two. But I was still a little bit surprised. I was surprised, but I wasn't surprised. If they had read my name out for going through, I'd have screamed and been surprised. And I had the same feeling when they revealed my name in the bottom two. You just don't know and my time had just run out basically."

What are you going to do on Monday morning?
"It will kill me. It will absolutely kill me. I knew that I was never going to get that far. We were on week five and I wanted to get to about week seven. That was my goal really. I really thought if I worked hard enough I could get there. But at the end of the day, it's the public who decided on this TV show and they didn't see something in me that was good enough to progress. I wasn't vote-able."

The judges seemed to believe that you had plenty of potential. Did you really not think you had any chance of making it to the end?
"To be honest, I don't. I mean Kara has the most beautiful lines and is stunning. Pamela, Matt and Scott, alongside Kara, they are the top four in my eyes. I knew that I was going to get better because I was getting trained so well by Jared, but I think if you start off with a real natural ability anyway, of course you are going to be at a better stage. I didn't have as much natural ability as other people."

How did you feel the Argentine tango went on Saturday?
"I loved it. We'd done the Charleston to Bugsy Malone last week and then this week it was this really dark, passionate tango. I loved doing it because it was just so different. I loved playing the different characters. I think the Charleston was always going to be one of the easier routines because it was so much fun to do. Whereas with the tango I was having to look into Jared's eyes and be all seductive. That's especially tough when you are wearing a spangly catsuit! It takes a lot of guts to do that in front of 11 million viewers! But I loved the tango."

You said on the show that you'll keep dancing. Do you really mean that?
"I am going to go to classes definitely. I can't imagine my life without it now. After doing it for four or five days a week I can't stand the idea of not doing it at all. It's awful. I need to find somewhere that does good dance classes and I've already started looking. I'm really lucky that I get to do wonderful things in my job, but I think it's always good to try to up your game, so I'll definitely be doing a few dance classes."

What's it been like working with Jared?
"I love him. I think he is wonderful. I couldn't have been luckier. He is the loveliest guy. Obviously he will go off and do his thing, but when he comes back on the show next year with a different celebrity partner, I will be like, 'Who is she? Oh yeah! Is she nice? Is she better than me!' And then I'll meet her and be like, 'Oh right... so you're the new girl in his life are you?' I will really miss him. It's such a random experience being thrown together with this person for eight to ten hours a day and luckily we got on really well. I think I've made a good friend with him."

It must have been great that it was his first year as well, so you were both experiencing it together?
"Oh definitely. That's the only problem though, because I feel like I've let him down. I just wanted to do a better job for him."

Who is your tip to win?
"Kara. I just love her so much. She's possibly the most beautiful girl I've ever met and I just stare at her obsessively. But she is also the most lovely girl, there is no agenda there with her and she's totally genuine. I think she totally deserves to win and she is working so hard. I really hope she does well. I also think Scott's fantastic as well."

Thanks Tina. I'm going to miss you on the show...
"I know, I know. I'm just so sad. I'm going to miss it so much. I feel like I've been dumped today. I'll be in my pyjamas later on, eating ice cream and watching trashy films and listening to sad music."

Strictly Come Dancing continues next Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One