Darcey Bussell misses Strictly and would love to return as a guest judge

Darcey Bussell has said she misses Strictly Come Dancing and would love to make a guest appearance on the show.

Dame Darcey Bussell was a judge on the BBC One series for seven years between 2012 and 2018.

Appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show this weekend, Darcey speaks about her time on Strictly and shares: “It was a big thing for a ballet dancer. It was fabulous, I had 7 years. I miss that – it’s like being part of a company again.”

Asked if she’d go back she says: “Not permanently, it would be lovely to be a guest judge or something.”

She adds: “I’ve had lots of other jobs and I’ve really enjoyed all of the different things I do. It was a great commitment, the nice thing was it really celebrated dance in a great way. It was great for the ballet world to have a judge as a ballerina.”

Darcey also spoke about the so-called ‘Strictly curse’, saying: “I think in any industry if you’re working with somebody intensely you’re going to be attracted to them. On Strictly it’s live television and everyone gets to see it. Everyone loves a love story.

“I had a partner that my mother wanted me to fall in love with. She couldn’t understand why I didn’t. I did call him my Italian stallion. The last 7 years of my career I worked with him. Such a beautiful man, no ego. My mum would say, ‘He even has nice teeth’. I’d say, ‘Weirdly I’m focussed on the work!’”

She adds: “There’s a lot of dancers who are married to each other. It is normal. But in any industry [that exists].”

Darcey was on the show to discuss her upcoming British Ballet Charity Gala at the Royal Albert Hall to support the arts.

She explains: “It’s quite a unique event – eight leading companies and they’ve all said they’ll do it. At the time where there hasn’t been any performances it’s been so important to get audiences back into the theatre.

“It’s not just a charity event to raise money just for the dancers, it’s the whole industry; choreographers, musicians, stage managers, tech teams, costume designers… it’s a massive industry and nothing’s been happening.”

Darcey adds: “[Dancing] is such a short career anyway, taking a year or a year and a half out of their lives… striving to be creative and nothing.”

The Jonathan Ross Show airs Saturday, 8 May at 9:35PM on ITV and ITV Hub.

Also this week Jonathan is joined by Sir Ian Mckellen, Romesh Ranganathan and Rag‘n’Bone Man