Strictly Come Dancing

Season 13 BBC Lifestyle 18:00 Tess Daly made a good call in her early 30s when the 47-year-old decided to find a job outside of modelling to pay the bills. Her CV of interviewing celebs on the red carpet earned her a gig presenting on Britain’s Channel 4 and the rest is history, with Tess celebrating her 13th season hosting Strictly Come Dancing (2004-current) this year.

1 Born Helen Louise Daly, Tess grew up in Derbyshire with her factory worker dad Vivian, mom Sylvia who worked at a paper mill and younger sister Karen who now lives in New Zealand with her family.

2 Teenage Tess worked in pubs and shops before being spotted in a Manchester McDonald’s by a modelling scout at 17. Six weeks after she turned 18, she jetted off to her first modelling gig in Japan, where she also picked up her love for sushi. She hasn’t eaten red meat since then.

3 In 1990, she appeared in two music videos for English pop band Duran Duran, for their songs Serious and Violence Of Summer.

4 Tess married Vernon Kay (42) in 2003 – he’s also a British TV presenter. They have two daughters, Phoebe (12) and Amber (7). In 2014, their marriage was rocked by Vernon admitting to sending racy SMSes to several women. Tess said that she forgave him because their marriage is “worth fighting for”.

5 Her dad Vivian was a huge ballroom dancing fan but died from lung disease emphysema just months before she got the presenting job on Strictly Come Dancing. “He would have loved to have seen me on it,” she beams. The working

6 mom’s ultimate dream is to “run a tea shop in the Derbyshire hills and serve homemade Victoria sponge cake”.