Angela Rippon has joked she and her dance partner Kai Widdrington won’t fall prey to ‘the Strictly curse’.
Angela Rippon has joked she and her dance partner Kai Widdrington won’t fall prey to ‘the Strictly curse’
The BBC journalist, 79, said it was obvious there would be no chance of any romantic between her and her 28-year-old professional dance partner due to their age gap.
She told Saga Exceptional about her younger fellow contestants: “I'm old enough to be their grandmother, not their lover."
She added about Kai: “He is just adorable, I love him.
"I said I wanted someone who is strong because I'm going to be hanging on to him rather a lot.
"And someone with a great sense of humour and patience. Kai has all of those in bucket-loads. I have enormous trust in him.
"He said, ‘Don’t worry. Whatever happens, I’ll catch you.’ Once someone as gorgeous as him says that, you don't worry about the little things."
Angela also admitted she was hesitant to agree to appear on ‘Strictly’.
She added: “I did take a long time to think about it. I didn’t give them an answer immediately, because I am aware of the fact that I’m 79.”
The news presenter fears she won’t win this year’s ballroom contest as the “competition is tough”, and is focusing more on proving that age is just a number when it comes to dancing.
She said: “In a way, doing ‘Strictly’ is putting my money where my mouth is by saying it doesn’t matter what age you are, what level of dance you do or what kind, whether it’s ballet, line dancing or ballroom.
"If I can prove that even at 79 you can still dance a cha-cha-cha, that’d be fantastic.”
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