Comic Calman tells of trauma behind Wonder Woman dance routine

COMIC SUSAN Calman hopes her performances on Strictly Come Dancing will inspire other women.

The Glaswegian wowed audiences and took the BBC One show by storm last year with her Wonder Woman-inspired samba.

The 43-year-old former lawyer said she did not want to dress as Wonder Woman for the show’s annual movie week but a pep talk from dance partner Kevin Clifton inspired her.

“That was a very difficult night. I cried for about 24 hours beforehand,” Calman said.

“I’m a short, Scottish lesbian dressed as Wonder Woman and everyone is going to laugh at me, and I didn’t want to do it.

“I thought I was going to be dressed as Gal Gadot and instead it’s the seventies Lynda Carter.

“Kev gave me a pep talk. It was so difficult and I thought I was going to be ridiculed.”

Fighting back tears, Calman added: “The genuine reason I did it was that I have terrible self-esteem and I thought that if I can be Wonder Woman, hopefully women at home will be able to think that they can be Wonder Woman as well.”

Calman, who was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to promote her new book

Sunny Side Up, said that when she was asked to take part in the show, “you never say no to Strictly”.

However, she revealed she is working on a new project with professional dancer Clifton, who hails from Grimsby, and said she hoped he and new partner, TV presenter Stacey Dooley, would win this year’s show.

“Stacey is lovely. I got a tweet from a lovely kid upset Kevin was dancing with someone else because kids take it very seriously and love seeing me and Kevin dancing together,” Calman said.

“My view is that everyone deserves the chance to dance with Kevin Clifton, as he is delightful.”