IKNOW nothing about breakfast television (some of us have jobs to go to, of a morning). So, until recently, I assumed Chris Hollins was just "that bloke who reads the sport on the BBC". It turns out I couldn't have been more wrong, as became apparent during this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

Chris, 38, admits himself he was not the best celebrity dancer on the show. But his boyish charm proved something of a phenomenon with housewives on speed-dial whose votes propelled him from gauche outsider to unlikely champion.

Among them was my mum.

"I'm always getting beautiful women coming up to me and telling me, 'My mum loves you,'" he says.

Beautiful women, eh? Well, he can't see me down the phone. Maybe I just have a beautiful-sounding voice.

"I do have a blue rinse following," he continues although there's a fair chance that, had my mum heard him say that, she might have turned her votes Ricky Whittle's way. Blue rinse indeed! She's actually quite foxy for a nearly 60-something, Chris.

Anyway, it wasn't the blue-rinse vote alone (if you want to call it that) that won Chris the Strictly title this year.

His fan mail came from right across the age spectrum.

"Throughout Strictly we've been supported by people of all ages," he says.

It's out of gratitude to this hard-core of fans that Chris is embarking on this year's Strictly Come Dancing tour, which comes to the Trent FM Arena from January 26-28 and then again on February 8 and 9.

"We had so much support from people who kept us in the competition. All the e-mails were lovely – especially from children. Doing the tour is about going back and seeing them to say thank-you," says Chris.

Not forgetting the fact that: "It gave me another two months to dance with the lovely Ola."

Ola, as Strictly fans will know, is Ola Jordan, the pint-sized, skimpily-attired beauty who was Chris's professional partner. At least, she's Ola to us. To Chris, she's "Ola Chops" – also, apparently, her husband and fellow dancer James Jordan's nickname for her.

This may seem strange but then Strictly is known for forging high-speed close-knit bonds between its dancing couples. Chris and Ola (Cola to their fans) have only followed suit.

"I love her to bits, but not in a naughty way," he says. "I think James would have something to say if I did! She's a really good mate. And she's so patient. I would have killed me!"

Many of Strictly's male contestants have entered the show as a result of coaxing by their wives and girlfriends who dream of a nimble-footed Fred Astaire-type leading them around the dancefloor. Not so in Chris' case.

"I was always a fan of the show," he reveals. "A lot of my work colleagues were in it, like Bill Turnbull and Natasha Kaplinsky. I was really looking forward to doing it. Everybody said how much fun it was. In life, it's very easy to say no to things. My philosophy is you have to give something a go. It was a no-brainer."

In fact, Chris' girlfriend may have been understandably affronted at his decision to partake in the show.

"We were on holiday when I got the call," he says. "I had to leave her by herself for six days. I have been such an a**e to her leading up to the competition. Then she found out I was dancing with the beautiful Ola."

The beautiful Ola is also a relentless teacher, though, as Chris discovered.

"When I met Ola, she was very ambitious," he recalls. "I had absolutely no dance experience, apart from weddings and birthdays which, you soon discover, really doesn't help. She watched me dance and said, 'I think I can see something'. It turned out that meant she thought we could survive the first week. I don't know how we carried on coming back week after week. We forgot our steps one week and came bottom of the judges' leaderboard. But Ola kept telling me to just enjoy myself and go for it. Never did we think we were going to win."

But audiences did, indeed, fall for the partnership. Ola had been in the show since series four. After partners that included endearingly stompy Kenny Logan and wooden GMTV man Andrew Castle, viewers probably felt she'd suffered enough and deserved some success.

"When you first start Strictly, you think it's all about you: about you learning the steps," says Chris. "But after a few weeks, you realise it's a partnership. I've got Ali sitting across from me; she's nodding now in a meaningful way."

Ali is the lovely ex-Hollyoaks actress Ali Bastian who, with partner Brian Fortuna, made it to the semis. In the final, Chris and Ola were up against actor Ricky Whittle and partner Natalie Lowe. The experience has left Chris in confident mood about the tour, which will include stars from previous series like Kelly Brook, Austin Healey and Mark Ramprakash.

"I'm not daunted by the competition," he says. "You can't get much better competition than Ali and Ricky. I'm really looking forward to just relaxing and having a great time."

Prior to Strictly, Chris was a BBC-trained hack with a first-class university education. He moved on to the BBC Breakfast sofa four years ago, doing the sports updates.

"I couldn't care less about football," he reveals. "It's work for me. I don't get passionate about it and I don't support any team."

Since his Strictly success, he's seeking to move his career on – perhaps with more presenting work.

"I have lots of ambitions," he says. "I always want to do something different. It's about waiting and seeing what happens."

To book tickets for the Strictly tour, which is at Nottingham's Trent FM Arena between January 26- 28 and February 8-9, call 08444 124 624.