15 very honest quotes from this year's Strictly celebrities
Whether they're jealous of Peter Andre, scared of Craig Revel Horwood or worried their kitchen dance moves won't quite cut it, here's some straight-talking from this year's celebrity contestants...
This year's celebrity contestants are getting ready to take to the Strictly dance floor. So how are they feeling? Well, pretty honest actually...
Chef Ainsley Harriott is always first on the dance floor, but isn't convinced that's such a good thing:
"I certainly love a boogie and once the music starts I’m usually one of the first out there on the dance floor. Although I haven’t had any formal dance training and something tells me I’m really going to notice the difference."
Boxer Anthony Ogogo seems to be more than a little concerned about a certain Mr Peter Andre:
"My dancing experience is zilch so when I’m watching Peter Andre in rehearsals, I feel like a stiff ironing board and he looks sexy, smooth and is wiggling his hips. Even when we put on our outfits he looked so cool and like a Spanish bull fighter and I stood there in my little baby blue number feeling very awkward."
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Crooner Daniel O'Donnell is certain there's one thing he can count on:
"I could have the whole of Ireland come down and support me!"
Athlete Iwan Thomas has absolutely no qualms about the Strictly attire:
"I love all the outfits and won’t need much persuasion to wear any glittery tight tops."
Singer Jay McGuiness just kind of wants to, well, make it to the middle:
"I would like to make it to half-way in the competition and then I can bow out with grace. Anything else is a bonus and anything less then I will try and not mention it."
Radio presenter Jeremy Vine is pretty sure he'll be oh so very polite and let people beat him:
"I would like to get to at least one tense moment in the competition but I am so polite, I will just wave the others past me on their way to the trophy and later think to myself, I wanted that!"
Pop star Peter Andre seems, like us (ahem), to have that Mysterious Girl video in mind:
"I think the competition is more with myself and to prove whether I can still move like I did 20 years ago? Haha!"
Presenter Anita Rani might struggle without a drink:
"My only dancing skills are the ones I think I have in a club or at a wedding when I’ve had a few drinks."
Weather woman Carol Kirkwood has some frank thoughts on who her partner should be:
"I want someone strong because I don’t want to flatten them and ruin their career after the first week."
Forget footwork, actress Georgia May Foote is hoping her secret life as a card sharp will help her out:
"I am [competitive] actually. I’m a bit annoying when it comes to card games and stuff like that."
Call the Midwife's Helen George is looking forward to being swept off of her feet:
"We did learn a bit of swing dancing on Call The Midwife which was really fun and there was a lot of partner work so I got to do upside down lifts so on Strictly I’m excited about being thrown around the room and things like that."
Singer Jamelia's already cooking on gas:
"If dancing in my kitchen counts I'm very, very experienced!"
Broadcaster Katie Derham is also a member of the Kitchen School of Dance:
"Most of my dancing is done in the privacy of my own kitchen or throwing some shapes at a wedding reception, so I wouldn’t say I’m going to be any threat to the professional female dancers."
EastEnders star Kellie Bright has a very specific aim for this year's series:
"The biggest challenge will be my bendiness because I’m not naturally a bendy person and even as a child I couldn’t do the splits so if I can manage to do the splits by the time I leave Strictly I’ll be a very happy lady!"
Presenter Kirsty Gallacher is already pulling out the impressions as she admits one judge in particular is on her mind:
"It would have to be Craig because he’s damning really isn’t he? I don’t want him to say ‘you are a disaster!’"
Strictly Come Dancing returns this Saturday at 7:15pm on BBC1
