Lauren Steadman is said to fear an early exit from 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

Lauren Steadman

Lauren Steadman

The Team GB athlete is set to fly to Australia for the Paratriathlon World Championships, and she'll return just days before the first round, meaning she won't have much time to rehearse with her professional partner AJ Pritchard.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "AJ knows they have a lot of work to do and faces arguably the toughest task out of all the pros. Both himself and Lauren know her disability won't be a problem, but they still need to time to practice and they're not going to get it.

"They know are already behind other couples and nobody wants the embarrassment of being the first act voted out - but they are determined not to be."

The 25-year-old star - who has competed at both the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics as a swimmer - was born without a complete right arm, and she admitted there could be some difficulties learning to dance a certain way.

She previously said: "I think there will be difficulties with having one arm but I think it's just a case of learning how to do things slightly differently or a different hold.

"There is always a way round it and the lifts that we did do two weeks ago, there were some things that I had to change slightly but not major changes."

However, it was previously revealed Lauren can salsa dance, and has even taught lessons herself.

A spokesman said: "She has salsa danced socially for several years and on occasion, due to shortages of teachers, she has helped beginners.

"She's not formally trained or qualified. She does it because she loves it!"