Rose Matafeo: ‘I’m off the idea of doing Strictly Come Dancing now’

Rose Matafeo no longer wants to appear on Strictly Come Dancing (Picture: BBC Three)

Rose Matafeo might be appearing on several TV shows at the moment, but she’s made it clear her past desire to appear on Strictly Come Dancing has now dissipated.

The New Zealand comedian has been living in London since 2015 and in the years since has appeared in shows like Pointless, Taskmaster, The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off, and is one of the hosts of the upcoming Junior Taskmaster.

But a few years back Rose, 31, said that one career goal she was working towards was to appear on the BBC reality dancing series.

However, she’s now backtracked and said she doesn’t actually believe she has what it takes.

‘Oh wait what- did I say that?’ she said when speaking to Metro.co.uk.

‘I think I am off the idea now. I have done my hip and I am getting old, and I am going to have to have about 15 years of rehab on my body and then I will be back to it.

The writer, comedian and actress is starring in the latest season of Starstruck (Picture: BBC Three)

‘If I could become a bionic woman by the time I am in my 60s… [that might be an option] but not now. I can barely get up in the morning now…’

Luckily Rose has plenty of other projects on her plate to keep her busy (and provide the perfect excuse to avoid hitting the dancefloor), including creating, co-writing and starring in Starstruck, the screwball comedy that hits screens for its third season next week.

In it she plays Jessie, whose one-night stand with famous actor Tom (Nikesh Patel) had initially lead to an unexpected relationship, as well as an insight into the perks and pitfalls of dating a celebrity.

After some back and forth over the past two seasons’, the show is back again, but this time, the romance has well and truly faded and the first episode kicks off with the couple calling it quits.

When the trailer was shared on social media last week, fans were shocked when it was mentioned the lead was in her ‘post-Tom era’, sparking strong responses from fans, some of whom said it was a ‘kick in the guts’ to discover the rom-com had taken this turn.

For those who weren’t yet aware of the plot twist in store, Rose said she thinks many will be surprised, but acknowledged she was the one who ‘made it so’.

‘I think fans will be [surprised] but that can only be a good thing for the third series because every time you are not only progressing that story, but there are a different set of challenges each time,’ she explained.

‘It did take us awhile to figure out where we wanted that story to go because there were so many directions it could have gone at the end of the second series.’

She added: ‘We had a little bit more time to develop the scripts and to think about what we wanted to say and make in a romantic comedy.’

Jessie (Rose) and Kate (Emma Sidi) in Starstruck (Picture: BBC Three)

While Jessie’s friends are starting to get married and pop out kids, she’s still trying to figure out what direction she wants to take, a similar anxiety many millennials are currently grappling with.

‘I think it is so hard to figure out at this age what is making you feel bad or uncomfortable about the position you are in and whether is it actually how you feel or is it actually the people around you or is it society in general telling you that you should be here by now?’ Rose pondered.

‘It’s overwhelming to figure out and can feel like there is pressure to achieve certain milestones, and cliched ones in a way, and when you look into yourself you wonder if it’s really what you want.

‘That is something Jessie [grapples with] and it’s also something I relate to and also put that into the character.’

Jessie is apparently meant to be in her ‘post-Tom (Nikesh Patel) era’ this time around (Picture: BBC Three)

While Tom’s fame is decidedly less exciting to Jessie and many of her friends years down the line, in recent years Rose has had to adjust herself to having people having strange reactions when they see her in public.

‘Yes [people get somewhat starstruck] but that is just sort of the natural by-product of being on television,’ she laughed.

‘And it always changes depending on who it is. The other day I was in Devon in a shop and some older women were giving me funny looks but then I’d realised I’d been on Pointless that week.

‘Honestly Pointless is probably the show that has caused people to become a little starstruck by me.’

Rose is also about to host Junior Taskmaster (Picture: Mike Marsland/ WireImage)

With three seasons of the show now under her belt, and plenty of passionate fans of the show, can Rose single out a particularly exciting endorsement from a famous face?

‘When the first series came out Dawn French said she watched it and that was really cool,’ she recalled.

‘I’ve never met her, but she was such a part of my childhood and just comedy upbringing.

‘It’s hard to be like “oh it’s so great when a celebrity watches the show”, because it’s so great when anyone does.

‘But it is quite sweet to know that someone you admire comedically enjoyed what you made. There are a few others…but you can never tell if they’re lying. They might just be wanting to get a job!’

After the brilliant casting of Minnie Driver as Tom’s somewhat terrifying agent Cath in the first series, and later Russell Tovey as a director called Dave, this time around John Simm plays an obnoxious actor who takes his role in a West End production alongside Tom a little too seriously at times.

‘It was so exciting to have him and he was so good. He was so perfect for that role,’ she teased.

‘Russell and Minnie I think have had cathartic experiences playing villainous versions of those entertainment people that they’ve encountered.’

While there’s no news yet on another season, Rose has said she’d love to enlist Yellowjackets star, and fellow Kiwi, Melanie Lynskey to play her ‘half-sister who lives abroad’.

‘I’ve never met her but used to stalk her on Instagram all the time and in Starstruck canon she is my sister,’ she shared.

Starstruck returns on Monday August 28 at 10pm on BBC Three.

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