Competitive Anne-Marie has confessed she wants to be the best on Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas special.
Popstar Anne-Marie is one of six celebrities taking part in the Strictly Christmas special.
She says of signing up for the show: “I love dancing, not that I do it a lot, or even on my shows, but I love it and doing something like this is really fun, especially when it is for Christmas! I am in heaven! I love the glitter, the baubles, the crackers!
“I love Strictly, I love the outfits, I love watching it, I just have never had time to do a full series so this felt perfect!”
And she admits: “Because I am so competitive, I want to be the best, so I am trying really hard, but I have to remember it’s for fun!”
On which of the judges she wants to impress, Anne-Marie adds: “All of them, hopefully! Craig is the one to impress.”
The 2002 hitmaker will be performing a Cha Cha to Feliz Navidad by Gwen Stefani with professional dancer Graziano Di Prima.
She says of the pair’s partnership: “On the first day we connected about morals and what kind of people we are. It got deep quick, but it was nice to connect on another level rather than just the job in hand.
“But Graziano is obviously a really good dancer, and it is always great to learn from the best.”
Graziano adds: “She is amazing! She is never happy with anything she does, I tell her it’s amazing, and she wants to go again and again. She is such a perfectionist.”
Anne-Marie continues: “Learning from someone who is so brilliant at what they do, is the best. I feel like he learnt so much about me so quickly, he knows exactly when I need motivation.”
On her past dance experience, she reveals: “I did jazz, tap and ballet until I was 11 years old, but then I went into karate. When I perform on stage I never rehearse, I just freestyle which usually ends up in me running and kicking, maybe bringing some of that karate training back?
“So although I can pick up the moves, its the feminine side of me and the confidence that I have found the hardest to connect with.”
Meanwhile Anne-Marie can’t wait to be given a Strictly makeover: “My dream! I am a magpie, I used to hate all this stuff, my sister was constantly trying to get me to let her do my make up. Then suddenly I transformed, now I love it. I love anything glitter and sparkly!”
Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas special airs Christmas Day (Saturday, 25 December) at 5:10PM on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
