Arlene: Auditions Brought "Spare Flesh All Over The Place"

Arlene Phillips has spoken out about unhealty auditionees for DanceX.

She told The Mirror: "There were all these girls with hot pants, crop tops and big bellies hanging out. No muscle tone, just spare flesh all over the place. Ugh! I wanted to stand up and scream, 'Why did you let yourself go? You puddings should do something about it!'"

I find comments like this quite hard to take. Of course, dancers should be fit and healthy. But as someone who has always been overweight and always danced, I know the constant battle one can face.

I never had a desire to dance professionally, mostly because of my weight which was never going to come off. And unless someone is planning to form a modern version of the Roly Polys, there are very few openings for plus sized dancers.

If only I were a celebrity. I could be asked onto Strictly, and then spend 8 hours a day training. The weight would fall off and I wouldn't have to sit behind a desk all day.

This is not a post of self-pity. I put myself up on the stage every year in my dancing school's shows, and I love it. I'm sure that narrow-minded people in the audience judge me, but as long as I am in time and can perform as well as my peers, I don't care. I'm doing something I'm passionate about. Most people will never know the buzz of performing on a stage, and those are the people I pity. Not myself.

Anyway, back to Arlene. She talks about how some of the men tried to catch her attention during the auditions: "Some of the hot young guys tried to catch my eye by opening their shirts and winking at me. They must have thought that because I eyed up Mark Ramprakash in Strictly Come Dancing I can be wooed. Forget it! I'm old enough to be their mother. Only talent will win through to the final stages - dance talent."