Angela’s in with a cha cha chance
Bookies slash odds (just don’t make her do the Charleston)
STRICTLY favourite Angela Scanlon reckons any dance involving jumping will prove her biggest challenge – as she admitted she’s dreading the Charleston.
The Co Meath TV presenter has seen her odds slashed to 7/2 to lift the glitterball trophy following the launch show on BBC One last weekend.
And she says the “sheer physicality” of the reality show will present the biggest challenge for her.
Angela, who is partnered with Carlos Gu on the show, said: “I’m genuinely not great on a trampoline, so I don’t know which dances involve the most jumping.
“The Charleston might be a problem for me? I think it’s fine because it’s a bit silly, and that’s probably where I lean to naturally.
“I also think the Rumba is going to give me the heebie jeebies. I need an alter-ego... Sasha Fierce style.”
She added: “I’m doing reformer Pilates, so lots of stretching and the odd run around the park.
“So it’s been kind of gentle but truthfully, I have not been very physically active for a few years.
“I’m kind of thinking ignorance is bliss, I don’t know if that’s the right approach but we’ll see.”
The mum-of-two is being heavily backed along with Eastenders star Bobby Brazier and ex tennis pro Annabel Croft to win the dance show.
Of the 15 celebrity contestants Les Dennis at 50/1 and Krishnan Gurumurthy at 66/1 are ranked as outsiders and deemed prime candidates for early exits.
Known for her kooky sense of humour, Angela, 39, has shared her Strictly journey to date in a series of tongue-in-cheek social media posts and videos.
On Friday she posted a reel of herself drinking a protein shake, performing lunges in her sitting room, and rolling her bare feet on a “spiky ball”.
She revealed: “I’m drinking this protein shake because I’ve been promised it will help with my arse cheeks. It’s gonna get the old glutes fired up...
“Yeah, I’m taking it seriously... This is like oddly sadistic and a bit enjoyable.”
Describing the show as “pure joy”, the author of gratitude self-help book Joyrider said: “I think life is kind of serious sometimes isn’t it?
“It’s escapism, it’s fun and I just feel weirdly ready to engross myself in
To tell the truth I have not been very physically active for a few years
some sequins and glitter.”
But she admitted the world of fake tan and sequins was alien to her as she endeavours to become ‘Strictly-fied’.
She confessed: “I’m quite a tomboy, so in theory I love it but it’s the ladylike things that make me feel a little more uncomfortable.
“I’m usually either in jeans and a jumper or I’m in a tall skirt and a sweater. I’m up for it, I’ve kind of gone, ‘I’m going to surrender to it all’.”
Angela described comedian Bill Bailey winning the series in 2020 with pro partner Oti Mabusi as a standout moment.
She said: “Bill Bailey, I think, was one of those moments where I thought it felt very empowering. I remember Hamza and Jowita where she was, like, a bird.
“I can’t remember the dance but it was this breath-taking moment it was just perfect, he just blew me away because it was so unexpected, their partnership just felt very otherworldly.”
The BBC and RTE presenter dismissed any suggestion that her brief encounters with jigs and reels would give her an unfair advantage over the competition.
She said: “I did Irish dancing when I was younger, where you’re expressly told to remain stiff as a board from the waist up...i’m not sure how that’s going to go down in Latin or Ballroom.”
Angela said she’d met fellow contestants, actor Nigel Harman and veteran broadcaster Angela Rippon before, but none of the others.
She said: “I think there’s a few dark horses in there. I think Bobby’s going to be really good. Bobby Dazzler, the smile on him. I also think Nigel and Layton.
“I’d love to get to Blackpool because I believe the floor is bouncy and I like
I just feel weirdly ready to engross myself in some sequins and glitter
the sound of that.”
Angela added: “Lean in has been the advice, so to kind of just really go for it, which I think I’ll do anyway. Also to be brave, which sounds very dramatic.
“I think I’m going to be really embarrassing and really embarrassed. But then I’m also like, embarrassment as a thing doesn’t kill you, it’s the kind of thing that I would encourage my daughter to go towards rather than away from, so I’m just going to go for it.”
And does she have a signature dance move she does at parties? “Absolutely... the running man!”