Viscountess Weymouth

READY TO MAKE A SENSATIONAL DEBUT ON ‘STRICTLY’ VISCOUNTESS WEYMOUTH ON HOW SHE IS TAKING A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE IN A BID TO BECOME QUEEN OF THE DANCEFLOOR

- Rosalind Powell

For Viscountess Weymouth, the chatelaine of Longleat, there is no such thing as a normal day. Whether it’s weighing koalas or feeding giraffes, organizing events or running around after her two boisterous boys at their magnificent Wiltshire estate and safari park, Emma, as she likes to be known, juggles a variety of duties.

Now that Strictly Come Dancing has been added to the list, life is about to step up a gear. And she can’t wait.

After months of secrecy, keeping the news that she was a contestant under wraps, Emma’s enthusiasm can finally be unleashed.

“I’m excited about everything – I’m excited about my dressing room,” says the businesswoman, chef, and model, whipping out her phone and showing hello! a picture of a door with her name on it. “I’m even excited about the soap in the sink!

“I’m so grateful to be taking part that I’ve honestly said ‘thank you’ a billion times.

“My face hurts from smiling so much,” she adds beaming.

We’re sitting in the large, comfortable living room of the private apartment in the west wing of the Elizabethan stately house that Emma shares with her husband of six years, Viscount Weymouth – Ceawlin Thynn, heir of the 7th Marquess of Bath – and their sons John, four, and two-year-old Henry.

It’s where they helped her rehearse the group dance performed on the Strictly launch show on Saturday. “Which was tricky,” she says. “They couldn’t lift me up.”

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