SCOTLAND’S Strictly hopes for 2015 rest on TV weather presenter Carol Kirkwood – and she has already set her sights on the final.

“I’m going to give it everything I have,” grins the 53-year-old, who is originally from Morar on the west coast. “I’m quite competitive in the sense that I want to do well, so I will be throwing everything I have at Strictly.”

She laughs: “But I’m also a realist. I’m 53 and probably not the fittest person you are ever going to meet. I would like to make it to the final and be holding that Glitter Ball Trophy but whether I will or not is another story.”

The new series of the hit BBC ONE Saturday night show begins with a launch programme on September 5, when all of the celebrities will find out who they have been paired with.

Carol says: “I like Alijaz and Pasha, but I really just want someone strong because I don’t want to flatten them and ruin their career after the first week.

“I also need somebody who is patient who will recognise that I don’t know my right and my left because that’s a big concern for me. My biggest challenge is going to be coping with nerves and remembering all the dance steps.”

Carol joins chef Ainsley Harriott, presenters Katie Derham, Jeremy Vine, Kirsty Gallacher and Anita Rani, boxer Anthony Ogogo, singers Peter Andre, Jamelia, Jay McGuiness and Daniel O’Donnell, actresses Georgia May Foote, Helen George and Kellie Bright and athlete Iwan Thomas in the 2015 line-up.

Carol, like last year’s Scottish contestant Judy Murray, has been a superfan of Strictly since the first ever series, so she is over the moon to be a contestant.

“I love Strictly and have watched it since series one when Natasha and Brendan won,” she smiles.

“I love the glitz, I love the glamour, I love the dancing and I love the music. I honestly love every single thing about it!”

Carol is the fourth BBC Breakfast presenter to appear on Strictly, following in the footsteps of Susanna Reid, Bill Turnbull and Chris Hollins.

She says: “I’ll be asking them for some tips.

“I’ve done some Scottish country dancing before which sounds way more glamorous than it is, but it’s only really been at weddings. I really have no dance skills whatsoever.”

The launch show takes place on Saturday (September 5) on BBC ONE.