Entertainment

Ruth Langsford admits ‘blind terror’ almost held her back from Strictly stage

The presenter admitted that she needed an encouraging push from her partner.
The presenter admitted that she needed an encouraging push from her partner. The presenter admitted that she needed an encouraging push from her partner.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Ruth Langsford has told how she almost did not make it to the stage for her first dance due to “blind terror”.

The Loose Women star made her debut on the BBC stage with partner Anton Du Beke on Saturday night, delighting viewers with a waltz to This Nearly Was Mine.

But while she was all smiles afterwards, she confessed that she was suffering more than a little stage fright before.

Speaking on BBC Two spin-off show It Takes Two on Wednesday, she told presenter Zoe Ball: “I was more than nervous. This was blind terror.

“I just looked at Anton and I felt like my feet had been cemented to the floor. I said, ‘I can’t’, and he just said, ‘You can’.

“I couldn’t feel my whole body … I thought I had someone else’s legs.”

But her partner described her as “a beauty” on the night, and she told how both her 15-year-old son and husband Eamonn Holmes had got “emotional” while watching.

It was a similar story for The Saturdays singer Mollie King, who dazzled with her kicking and flicking jive with AJ Pritchard.

“It was literally terrifying, but I absolutely loved every minute,” she said.

Teasing viewers about the pair’s plans for a steamy tango when the show continues this weekend, she said she will be transforming herself into “Tallulah the Tango Queen” and joked that the dramatic dance made her feel like an EastEnders actress.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One at 6.45pm on Saturday.