When Angela Scanlon was making her New Year’s resolutions, she decided 2023 would be the year of “yes” and wrote “surprise me” in her diary.
So when she was asked to sign up to the 21st series of Strictly Come Dancing she decided to go for it. “I went into this year with the mentality of whatever is chucked at me, I’ll say yes,” she says. “It’s maybe a bit bigger than I was hoping for but I asked for it, so I’d better go with it.” The 39-year-old Irish broadcaster is known for hosting BBC Two’s Your Home Made Perfect and her stints on The One Show.
But she’ll be doing less talking and more dancing as she competes against the likes of comedian Les Dennis, Love Island’s Zara McDermott, West End star Layton Williams and Coronation Street’s Ellie Leach.
As we chat, she’s preparing for a week of rehearsals, having just learnt the identity of her pro partner, revealed last night during Strictly’s launch show. “I felt like I was in limbo waiting to hear and everyone kept saying, ‘Who do you want it to be?’ I didn’t want to say it out loud because if it didn’t happen, I’d have been quite devastated.” This isn’t the first time Angela had been approached about Strictly, but the mum of two young daughters, Ruby and baby Marnie, feels now is the time. “I have a five year old and an 18 month old and it still feels a little delicate for me, but I’m really big into timings.
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