{"id":235585,"date":"2023-09-12T06:27:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T06:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=235585"},"modified":"2023-09-12T06:27:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T06:27:24","slug":"angela-scanlon-manifested-bbc-strictly-come-dancing-gig-with-secret-note-in-diary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/tv-and-movies\/angela-scanlon-manifested-bbc-strictly-come-dancing-gig-with-secret-note-in-diary\/","title":{"rendered":"Angela Scanlon manifested BBC Strictly Come Dancing gig with secret note in diary"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Angela Scanlon was making her New Year\u2019s resolutions, she decided 2023 would be the year of \u201cyes\u201d and wrote \u201csurprise me\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went into this year with the mentality of whatever is chucked at me, I\u2019ll say yes,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s maybe a bit bigger than I was hoping for but I asked for it, so I\u2019d better go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old Irish broadcaster is known for hosting BBC Two\u2019s Your Home Made Perfect and her stints on The One Show.<\/p>\n

But she\u2019ll be doing less talking and more dancing as she competes against the likes of comedian Les Dennis, Love Island\u2019s Zara McDermott, West End star Layton Williams and Coronation Street\u2019s Ellie Leach.<\/p>\n

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As we chat, she\u2019s preparing for a week of rehearsals, having just learnt the identity of her pro partner, revealed last night during Strictly\u2019s launch show. \u201cI felt like I was in limbo waiting to hear and everyone kept saying, \u2018Who do you want it to be?\u2019 I didn\u2019t want to say it out loud because if it didn\u2019t happen, I\u2019d have been quite devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a five year old and an 18 month old and it still feels a little delicate for me, but I\u2019m really big into timings. We\u2019ve had the conversation before and it hasn\u2019t been right \u2013 I\u2019ve been trying to have a baby or thinking about having a baby or pregnant. When it came in this year, there wasn\u2019t really a question. Ruby loves the show. She was like, \u2018Can I do it, too? Are we doing it together?\u2019 She was quite devastated when she realised she couldn\u2019t dance with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Angela\u2019s tech entrepreneur husband Roy Horgan was in favour of it, too. \u201cHe said go for it. That\u2019s always been his mentality. Hugely supportive and of the school of thought that you regret the things you don\u2019t do rather than the things that you do,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes I can be selective or protective of myself, but actually, I\u2019m just a bit afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her intensive rehearsal schedule, Angela and Roy, who married in 2014 and live in London, should be able to spend more time together now she is tied to the UK for Strictly.<\/p>\n

She says, \u201cI travel quite a bit for work. I do a chat show in Ireland and my work here takes me all over the place. The idea that I\u2019ll be waking up at home every day feels like a bit of consistency \u2013 even though everything else feels very different.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the week before training starts when we\u2019re having our chat, but Angela reveals the celebrity cast, including Amanda Abbington, Adam Thomas and Angela Rippon, have already launched a WhatsApp group.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019d just come back from the summer holidays so It was a proper back-to-school feeling when I met them all. I felt like I was four again. I\u2019m excited but obviously anxious. We\u2019re all doing something that\u2019s completely out of our comfort zone, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ex-Robot Wars host turned to friends and Strictly alumni Ellie Taylor and radio DJ Clara Amfo for advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cEllie has a young daughter, so I was kind of conscious of how that works with kids and waking up on a Sunday morning, your day off, when you\u2019re up at 5.30am \u2013 I have two early-bird children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think mostly I\u2019m trying to manage my expectations of myself and everybody else around me,\u201d she adds. \u201cThe resounding feedback has been, \u2018Brace yourself but it\u2019s the best thing you\u2019ll ever do\u2019. That\u2019s my motivation in life generally, to do things that feel frightening and really uncomfortable, and I feel like I haven\u2019t done it for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

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While Angela sees Strictly as a professional challenge, she reckons it\u2019s going to be a weighty personal one as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter school we neglect to take up new things that make our brains work in different ways \u2013 and our glutes. I think I\u2019ve had quite a complicated relationship with my body for many years so there\u2019s a part of me that\u2019s excited to do something where I\u2019m getting strong and right in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something magical about dancing. It\u2019s quite healing without getting too airy-fairy. We\u2019re supposed to move our bodies and be free and expressive, and I haven\u2019t been very good at that in many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is she ready for the attention that comes with Strictly? \u201cI don\u2019t know that I am,\u201d she confesses. \u201cI think I\u2019m a pretty solid, grounded human. I\u2019ve got an amazing family who are not in that world and not that impressed by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Angela adds Westlife\u2019s Nicky Byrne, who was on the show in 2012, had told her he could never have prepared for Strictly. \u201cNo matter where he went, he had kids and grannies telling him they loved his tango. He said, \u2018Just embrace it all\u2019. So I\u2019m going to try and enjoy it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Angela isn\u2019t ready to embrace, however, are the Strictly spray tans. \u201cSequins? Literally roll me in them. But fake tan? I haven\u2019t worn fake tan in 15 years. I had quite an intense relationship with it. I was very committed and it wasn\u2019t a light hue. Maybe a little bit of make-up but I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m going to be getting into the booth every Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the dances she can\u2019t wait to tackle, Angela admits she\u2019s raring to go with the rumba. \u201cOn the one hand, it fills me with absolute dread, but it also looks slow. It might be a bit restful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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She did Irish dancing as a child, but doubts it will come in handy now. \u201cIrish dancing is very rigid and you dance on your own so you never have to factor in another person\u2019s limbs. Maybe I can do it for a Couple\u2019s Choice,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

Strictly Come Dancing launches on Saturday 16th September at 6:45pm on BBC One.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n