Dan Walker confesses he had sneaky lessons with Shirley Ballas before Strictly debut

dailystar.co.uk:

Dan Walker has revealed that he had “past dance experience” before he appeared on the 19th series of Strictly Come Dancing with none other than Shirley Ballas.

On Sunday (6 March), the BBC Breakfast star shared a clip from his joint celebrity expedition up Mount Kilimanjaro back in 2019.As the 44-year-old reflected on his once-in-a-lifetime expedition, he celebrated his third-year anniversary hiking up the mountain in order to raise money for Comic Relief.And it was at this point that the star revealed he had some one-on-one training with the head judge herself in order to help lift her spirits during the challenging climb.Alongside the Strictly pair, Ed Balls and Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock joined the group of celebs who took part in the climb in order to raise thousands of pounds for the charity.But it wasn’t as enjoyable for everyone in the team, as Dan shared some footage of an emotional Shirley who was tearing up as she shared her struggles with the difficult experience.In the background, Dan could be seen sharing his rendition of a Paso Doble to the professional ballroom dancer in order to lift her spirits.Ahead of Comic Relied this year, which is due to air on Friday 18th March, Dan took to Instagram to share the clip, writing: “I have a confession to make … I have remembered that I did have some experience before I did #Strictly.“It’s 3 years since we climbed Kilimanjaro with an incredible team to raise money for @comicrelief and, on one occasion, I tried to lift @shirleyballas’ spirits with a spot of paso.”He teased his former Strictly partner Nadiya Bychovka: “Sorry for not telling you about this @nadiyabychkova.”And Shirley wasn’t the only one to suffer during the challenge, as Dan.