Ok, so I guess my big secret
is out, and I am delighted to finally be able to say that I will be appearing
in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The past few months have been absolutely crazy as I’ve had to keep this
under wraps, and the lengths that I’ve had to go to, to keep it secret were
unbelievable! With any correspondence in
regards to the show such as emails and meetings etc I was never allowed to
mention the word ‘Strictly’, I always had to refer to my new job as ‘Legal’, which
was also my code name for the show. I
even had decoy cars sent round to my house in case the press picked up on
it. I felt like I was working as a
spy…..can you imagine ‘the name is Outen, Van Outen 007, I’m Legally Blonde and
licensed to thrill!!!!!!’
Before my life was
‘strictlyfied’ and all the craziness took over, Betsy and I flew to Thailand and we
managed to spend some relaxing time on the beach. As Lee is in America it was a perfect
opportunity for some Mummy and Betsy time.
Me & Betsy |
My time with Betsy is
precious and it was so lovely to spend some uninterrupted quality time with her
as she is growing up so fast and is so much fun to be with. She is already very girly and loves dressing
up, and was thrilled when we sported matching outfits on the beach. We stayed at the W Retreat in Mae Nam, which
was absolutely beautiful, and our stay there was made all the better by the
wonderful staff. It was amazing, and I would highly recommend it, especially
for families.
|
With my best friend Tamara
The reason we were in Thailand was to
attend the wedding of my good friends Jamie and Nok. I’ve known Jamie for years and he now lives
in Thailand ,
so it was lovely to get to see him get married on a sun kissed beach with a
group of our closest friends. Although I
made the most of this relaxing time, I did have one crazy fun filled evening at
the hen night. My girlfriends and I went
to see a really funny cabaret show, and it was hysterical!!!! It was a fantastic evening and we had such a laugh!
The day after I arrived home
from Thailand
I took Betsy to see the launch of the new BBC Children’s Show ‘Get Well Soon’.
It’s presented by paediatrician Dr. Ranj and its aim is to get children to look
after their own bodies. It’s suitable
for both toddlers and older children and I thought it was a great idea to get
kids and their parents watching together and understanding their bodies. Both Betsy and I loved it, and cannot wait to
watch it on TV together.
With Dr.Ranj at the
Get Well Soon Launch
Oh my goodness!!!! Now we
head straight into the launch show for Strictly and the craziness starts
again. Once again due to the to secrecy
of the contestants we all had to wear Brucie masks when we arrived at the
studio to conceal our identities, before the big ‘reveal’ I thought this was hilarious and tried mine
on to show Betsy before my car arrived and it really freaked her out, bless
her!!!
Strictly Confidential
As all of you who watched
the show probably now know, I am partnered with the lovely James Jordan. James has yet to win the coveted glitter ball
trophy, and I know he is hungry for success, so I am so pleased to be dancing
with him. The only problem is….. we are
going to be a nightmare together, as we both have very similar, very naughty
personalities, and we have literally not stopped laughing since we’ve been
paired together!!!
James and his gorgeous wife
Ola live near to me in Kent, so it will be perfect for training together as we
wont have far to travel. Ola is
partnered with Sid Owen, who also lives near to us, so I’m sure that the four
of us will hang out for dinner together as we are all so excited and get on
like a house on fire!!!!
Strictly has always been one
of my favourite shows, as I love all the showbiz glitz, and I am so, so excited
about appearing in this years show, but I have to say that I was a quite upset
at the criticism that I’ve come under from the press about my involvement with
the show due to my previous dance experience.
I would like to take this opportunity to express that I have danced at
theatre school as part of my training, and I did appear in the musical Chicago
where I had one dance number, but apart from that, my dance experience is very
basic, and secondly, I am not the only competitor that has appeared in the show
that has had basic training. This
competition is not musical theatre, it is ballroom, and this is a world that I
am in NO way familiar with.
Ballroom is totally different, firstly I have never danced with a partner, you have to be in sync, remember your footings etc, these are things that I’ve never had to do in my career so far and this is a massive challenge for me. However, I’m really looking forward to learning a new skill, and I’m really happy as Betsy is so looking forward to seeing her Mummy dance. I know she’ll love the costumes and make up too, and the lovely ladies in the costume department have said that they will make her a mini costume to match mine…..I can’t wait to see her little face, she’ll be thrilled!!!!!
Ballroom is totally different, firstly I have never danced with a partner, you have to be in sync, remember your footings etc, these are things that I’ve never had to do in my career so far and this is a massive challenge for me. However, I’m really looking forward to learning a new skill, and I’m really happy as Betsy is so looking forward to seeing her Mummy dance. I know she’ll love the costumes and make up too, and the lovely ladies in the costume department have said that they will make her a mini costume to match mine…..I can’t wait to see her little face, she’ll be thrilled!!!!!
The last seven days have
been manic as I have been getting Betsy off to nursery, then juggling rehearsals
with interviews and television recordings, as well as trying to do the
housework! And, I feel that I’m at a
slight disadvantage this week as my feet are so badly blistered due to dancing
in heels, that I can’t even get my shoes on and I’m having to practice barefoot until they heal. Even so, I wouldn’t change a thing as I’m
loving every minute of it!
However, there are a lot of
people in this year’s competition with huge fan bases, so I really need all the
support that I can get, so I’m reaching out to all the hard working mums out
there to pick up the phone and vote for me when the live shows begin as I really
need your help, and with James’ guidance, hopefully I can show that this Mum
can strut her stuff every Saturday night!
Feet, please don’t fail me
now!