Lesley Joseph is leaving Chigwell behind for a few months while she dances her socks off on the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor with Anton du Beke.
One of the biggest personalities on this year’s show, Lesley says she was attracted to the glamour of Strictly.
“I want to take part because I canāt not do it, I love the glamour, I love the spray tans, I love the big hair, I love the make-up and I want to learn to dance properly. I just want the whole experience.”
Does she want to impress the judges or is she more concerned about the public?
“Craig because we job shared when we both played Miss Hannigan last year. He opened in Annie and then I took over so I really want to impress him. Do you know what, Iād just be thrilled if any of them were impressed; theyāre all experts in their field so Iād just love them to say something positive!”
Much has been made about Lesley’s age in the media but she’s not letting that stop her, although she does realise her limitations.
“I think my biggest challenge will probably be the physicality of it all. Iāve been trying to do lots of cardio stuff so I am walking everywhere plus doing exercise classes and yoga classes as much as I can and trying to lose weight but I am failing in that so far! I think another challenge will be trying to keep going with the training. Iām not 21, Iām not 31 or 41 so I think as far as thatās concerned that will probably be the biggest challenge. I want to be able to pace myself and not absolutely exhaust myself before I get to Saturday night.”
Watch Lesley and Anton’s first steps below:
Strictly Come Dancing 2016 returns at 9pm on Friday and 6.30pm on Saturday.