Cliff Notes – Vicky Pattison says Strictly launch show was ‘worst experience of my life’
- Vicky Pattison expressed her overwhelming anxiety about participating in the Strictly Come Dancing launch show, describing it as the “worst experience of her life” and revealing she sought therapy to cope with her nerves.
- During the launch, she felt acutely aware of her dancing abilities compared to other contestants, stating that the varying skill levels heightened her insecurities.
- Despite her initial struggles, Vicky later admitted to enjoying the dancing once the performance began, although she found her costume restrictive.
Vicky Pattison says Strictly launch show was ‘worst experience of my life’
Vicky Pattison has shared her experience of filming the Strictly launch show (Picture: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Vicky Pattison has described filming the Strictly Come Dancing launch show as the ‘worst experience of her life’ as we’re just hours away from the BBC show’s return.
The Geordie Shore and Ex On the Beach star, 37, is one of 15 celebrities who’ll be taking to the ballroom dance floor in this year’s series of the BBC show.
But Vicky has already spoken about her anxieties around appearing on Strictly, confessing she has sought help from This Morning’s psychologists Nick and Eva Speakman.
Vicky said she had returned to therapy and ‘cried for three hours straight’ about appearing on the BBC show.
She has now told Angela Scanlon’s Get a Grip podcast about filming the launch show, simply saying: ‘It was the worst experience of my life.’
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Angela said she had sent Vicky a voice memo before the big event to put her ‘nerves at ease’, but Vicky admitted she hadn’t seen it before she had to hit the dancefloor.
The 37-year-old has shared her nerves about appearing on the show (Picture: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
The 2025 series kicks off this evening (Picture: BBC)
‘It was just because I was getting so overwhelmed in my own head,’ said Vicky, who said this year’s competitors are already at quite ‘different levels’ of ability.
‘So, just for a bit of context, the launch show is everybody all together, all singing, all dancing, for anyone who doesn’t know. It’s the “welcome to the series”. It’s big guns.
‘And being around dancers of different abilities, it does just make you like cripplingly aware of how s***e you are if ya s***e, and I am s***e.
‘Then, of course, the pros, who are all carved by angels – I’m so sorry, where do the women put their organs? They’re tiny.’
Vicky said there are already ‘different levels’ of ability on the show (Picture: Instagram)
Angela Scanlon has given Vicky plenty of reassurance (Picture: PA Wire)
Vicky said the Strictly wardrobe team had put a ‘special girdle’ into her get-up, which she said left her with the sensation of being a ‘sausage in a skin’ during the launch show.
Angela reassured her that everyone is given one of the corsets in their outfits, while Vicky went on to admit that once they got stuck into the dance, she ‘loved’ it.
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Strictly Come Dancing kicks off this evening on BBC One.
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