Comedian latest to join the ranks of Strictly contestants
SCOTTISH COMEDIAN Susan Calman is the ninth celebrity to join the Strictly Come Dancing line-up.
Ms Calman shared her excitement at finally being revealed as the ninth star to be taking part in the series on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show, after weeks of keeping it a secret.
She said: “It was three weeks of terror to this particular moment, and thank goodness it’s finally here.
“I was not allowed to tell anybody what’s happening, so it’s been confidential. But I am so excited; I’ve been a Strictly superfan for years and this is going to be the best ride possible.”
She said she has not danced since she was at school and that she is “the last person on the dancefloor”.
“I don’t particularly enjoy dancing in a lot of ways, I haven’t worn heels or a dress since I was 17 and I haven’t danced with a man in over a decade.”
Calman said she is 4ft 10in tall, but that having a low centre of gravity should help her on the dancefloor.
She also said: “My mother will die happy to see me in a dress. To finally see me in glitter and a dress.”
Calman, 42, posted a cryptic photograph on Twitter the day before the announcement.
Alongside a shot of her feet, she wrote: “Sleeper train to London. Off on an adventure. Best foot forward. Which I think is this one.”
In 2006 Calman decided to give up her career as a corporate lawyer to work as a comedian.
She was recently seen on screen hosting BBC One’s daytime quiz show The Boss, and also fronted BBC Four’s Prejudice And Pride: The People’s History Of LGBTQ Britain alongside Stephen K
Amos.
Calman has appeared on comedy panel shows including QI and Mock The Week.
She penned a book called
Cheer Up Love in which she wrote openly about dealing with depression.
Last year Calman married Lee Cormack – her partner of over a decade – who is a lawyer.
In July she announced she was cancelling her Autumn tour dates, The Calman Before The
Storm, due to a “television commitment”.
Posting on Twitter, she explained: “It is with huge regret that I’ve had to cancel my tour dates in autumn. I was really looking forward to performing but unfortunately a television commitment has come up which means I won’t be able to tour.”
I don’t enjoy dancing... I haven’t danced with a man in over a decade Strictly Come Dancing contestant Susan Calman.