I feel so lucky

TV personality and podcaster Vicky Pattison on conquering her fears on Strictly, making her family proud and THOSE sex ban rumours

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She faced all manner of jungle beasties on I'm a Celeb, and the terrifying judges on Celebrity Masterchef. But nothing has filled Vicky Pattison with fear quite like performing live in front of the nation on Strictly Come Dancing.

"The pressure, and being out of my comfort zone, is sometimes exhausting," says Vicky, 37, a TV personality, radio presenter and author. She's been partnered with professional dancer Kai Widdrington on this year's series.

NERVES

"Kai has been incredibly patient. And I really hope that if the lovely public stays behind me as long as they have so far, I'll be able to beat these nerves. I am finally starting to put them to one side."

Strictly has always been a dream.

"There's an awful lot of graft involved if you don't want to make a fool of yourself on live TV, especially if you're someone like me with zero previous dance experience," she says.

"I've been wanting to do it for years but nobody wanted to speak to me. So many incredible people have done it and I was fine waiting my turn. But when I got the call, I was shocked. I felt really honoured. I had a little cry."

When Vicky isn't jiving on our screens on Saturdays, she's at home with her husband, Ercan Ramadan and their two rescue labradors, Max and Milo.