Ellie Taylor believes Strictly Come Dancing has taught her to embrace being “weird”.
The comedian has opened up about her struggles with self-confidence on the dance floor.
Describing herself as gangly, she thought she would be “horrific” on the BBC1 show and found it so tough to watch herself at the start.
But she has revealed how she has grown in confidence – and she feels sexy when she is stepping out to perform.
Ellie, 38, credits partner Johannes Radebe with making her feel good.
She explained: “I haven’t had confidence. I have never wanted to watch myself dance. “I have never felt comfortable dancing in front of other people because I have always felt quite physically awkward.
"To confront yourself in a mirror, watching yourself learning a dance, is quite tough.
“You sort of take a deep breath and swallow it down and go for it. You try to take your own judgment away.
“I think that has been the biggest hurdle for me.”
For Halloween week, Ellie and Johannes, 35, performed a Couple’s Choice routine to I Put A Spell On You from Hocus Pocus.
Singing the praises of her pro partner, Ellie shared his words of wisdom. She said: “Jo is so great with me about that because I’m like, ‘I just look weird. I don’t look sexy, I look weird’.
“And he says, ‘Embrace your weird’.
And it’s true, all I can do is be myself.”
And even if she ends up leaving the competition this week, she added: “I feel like it is such a big positive for me to realise I’m not as physically horrific as I thought I am to look at, to dance.”
Ellie, who has also appeared in shows such as 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Mock The Week, and Ted Lasso, is loving her time on Strictly.
But she admitted that it has been an emotional rollercoaster.
Ellie said: “You’re putting yourself out there a lot, you do feel quite vulnerable. Honestly, I think everyone needs to try to do a routine in a mirror in front of a professional dancer as a humbling experience
It is like a therapy and it takes out any wind in your sails because it is really hard.”
But while it has been tough, Ellie says it has been fun too. The show has also helped unleash her inner siren.
She said: “I feel good. I feel powerful. It is really fun to play different characters and basically come in every Saturday and get to play dress-up. It is brilliant.”
The mum to four-year-old daughter Valentina heaped praise on the other man in her life, her husband Phil.
She thanked him for taking good care of her, adding: “He has been brilliant. He has sort of taken on the mantle of the house and looking after our daughter.
“It means I can really focus on dancing – because I’m a dancer now. “I was like, ‘Oh, don’t worry about dinner, I’ll just come home and have a bowl of cereal’.
“He is like, ‘No, you need to eat properly. Go to sleep’. He has been like my mother about it.
“It’s a real family effort for everyone involved.
“It’s not just you saying ‘Yes’ to Strictly, it’s your whole family.
“Even with regards to the nerves, watching someone you love trying something that you know is out of their comfort zone, it’s quite hard to watch. It is emotional, so that has been full-on for everyone.”
