Strictly Come Dancing might be just under one month away from launch for the 2022 season but it’s proved it’s never too early for a’fix’ scandal to engulf the show.
A dazzling line up of celebrities were announced as taking part in the long-running dance competition earlier this month.
And among those taking part is 39-year-old former Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton - who is joining the series months after splitting for her husband, Richie Myler.
While Helen may be hoping to throw herself into rehearsals and performing, and taking her mind off her forthcoming divorce, some are questioning if she might have too much of an upper hand for the 2022 season.
The Sun on Sunday has uncovered the fact that Helen won a dance competition in her teenage years.
In a 2016 interview, she was asked to reveal a little known secret about herself, and she explained: “I won a Ken Dodd tap-dance award when I was 17.”
And she later added: “Not a lot of people know this, but I’m very good at tap dancing. People are often amazed I can tap dance.”
Despite previously speaking out about her successful dancing past, the star has been attempting to give the impression she is a total novice ahead of the upcoming season of Strictly – which will be the 20th series.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live last week, Helen declared: “People keep saying, ‘Can you dance?’ and I say, ‘No’ because isn’t it the point to learn to dance?”
Earlier this month, Helen raised eyebrows when she shared information about foot maintenance ahead of her Strictly casting announcement.
The star became an expert in self healthcare after taking part in a string of gruelling all-action challenges, including marathons and mountain climbs.
She wrote: “My feet were probably the most important piece of kit I had, so it was important I looked after them.”
She went on to describe injuries she sustained while running in marathons.
She wrote: “My blisters were so big the race doctor had to pop them with a scalpel... I thought about telling people I had failed. And that hurt more than my feet.”
Explaining that all her toenails fell off after her marathon, she added: “It didn’t hurt, but it looked awful. I was quite proud of what I had been through, so I used to freak people out by asking them if they could guess what I was hiding in my purse. Don’t judge me. After all that running I deserved some fun.”
Helen wrote in her book, titled Wild Girl: “The race showed me that sometimes you just have to keep your head down and plough on, using the highs to get you through the lows.”
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