Strictly Champ Natasha "Forced" To Do Show

Series 1 winner Natasha Kaplinsky has revealed that she was pushed into doing the show, and tried everything she could to get out of doing it.

She told the Daily Mirror: “I got completely forced and put into a corner at the BBC. I’d just started at BBC Breakfast and obviously the bosses at Strictly had a shopping list and a newsreader was on it and I was their easiest target. I honestly tried every single excuse not to do it, but I was cajoled and in the end I ran out of excuses. I was absolutely petrified. It’s not easy to be a female in the journalistic world. I worked very hard to get to the BBC and I felt really concerned that Strictly Come Dancing was going to change how people would perceive me and to a certain degree it did. I felt very self-conscious about putting on sequinned clothes and performing, because that wasn't my job. My job wasn't about me, it was about the news, so to suddenly put myself in the middle of the dance floor on a Saturday night was insane – I was the most nervous I have ever been in my life.”

I'm not actually sure why this is news. It was clear to anyone who watched the first series that she was not comfortable. She constantly said she didn't want to do it, and took a long time to find her way on the show.

Maybe it's news because she's dropped off everyone's radar since those days on BBC Breakfast, and an upcoming series of Strictly is a good way to get her name back in the papers.