‘Harder than childbirth’ Angela Scanlon spills all on Strictly

Strictly Come Dancing star Angela Scanlon and her dance partner Carlos Gu made an appearance on Good Morning Britain today, ahead of the Strictly Come Dancing tour.

Appearing on the ITV show, Angela shared insights into her Strictly journey, revealing how it reminded her of her strength, both physically and emotionally.

Reflecting on the challenge of the jive – which she described as harder than childbirth – Angela remarked: “It was a big part of the motivation for me, the physicality of it. I used to be super fit and after having my two girls, I was more gentle and did things that were more chill physically, apart from the birthing of the pair of them.”

She added, “So I quite fancied the idea of doing something that pushed me physically, but the jive… I mean sucker punch as it was week two and I hadn’t built up the stamina or fitness, but it was a ferocious jive, it was intense.”

Discussing her personal growth, Angela said: “I feel really proud and there was a sense of reminding myself of my strength beforehand. But what I hadn’t banked on was the emotional journey, the physicality was what I was fixated on and the rest of it was a cherry on the top.”

Carlos expressed his support for Angela on the upcoming tour, telling hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard: “Not for me, but for her. She deserves it 100 per cent and we’re definitely going for that glitter ball on a couple of nights.”

Angela humorously expressed frustration about the tour not visiting Belfast or Dublin, saying: “We’re not going to Belfast or Dublin though, we’re absolutely furious as that would have been a shoo in!”

On being ready for the tour, Angela candidly shared: “Can I ever be ready? Bit like childbirth and Strictly, strap in and hope for the best!”

Carlos revealed changes in their routines, stating, “There’s a tiny bit of change because the original dances we made were for telly, so for the camera, but this time we have a 360 degree audience around us, so bits and bobs are changing direction and we want to get every single one of the audience involved and to dance and feel the fun and the energy of us, so we’ve upgraded it.”

Angela acknowledged the learning curve involved, explaining: “The steps are all the same and they are ingrained, but it’s just shifts of position. I say it’s grand but we’ll see. That much energy… it throws you a bit. There’s lots of backing dancers which I’ve never had to contend with before, so I’m hoping I don’t elbow anyone!”

Discussing her battle with blisters, Angela revealed: “I’m a delicate peach so my skin was always going to take a bit of a battering, but I had really bad blisters initially and a bit further on and my mum had said she had heard that bathing your feet or whatever in Dettol… I diluted it down and bathed my feet and it works to get rid of any infection or potential infection. I’m still standing.”

Angela also shared how she turns to her Argentine tango performance for a mood boost, saying, “When I’m a bit down, I watch the Argentine tango on YouTube. I loved the dance. It was a perfect moment in the competition where my blisters had healed and my feet weren’t sore anymore.”

Good Morning Britain weekdays from 6am on ITV1 & ITVX