Strictly Come Dancing’s Susan Calman announced that she is taking part in the show to set an example to her young niece as she dismissed nasty Twitter trolls.

The Scottish comedian, 42, said she hoped to show the five-year-old that nobody has the right to make her feel bad about her appearance after hitting back at cruel comments from social media followers.

After she shared a glamorous new snap of herself in full glittering costume with her show partner Kevin Clifton, one person responded: “They let pigs dance?”

As fans rushed to her side in support, she posted: “I don’t often interact with trolls but occasionally I do. For years I thought I was fat and ugly. I’m not. And I won’t let anyone say I am.”

She later followed it with: “I have a 5 year old niece. I want her to know that no one (man or woman) should make her feel bad about how she looks. Strictly is for her.”

Dismissing all rude comments, she shared a gif from the female-led Ghostbusters movie and wrote: “Anyway, I’m off to rehearse with a handsome man, preparing a beautiful dance for the biggest show on television. Suck on that haters.”

With just days to go before this year’s Strictly couples take to the dance floor for the first time on BBC 1, there has been a range of comments from contestants both past and present.

Brendan Cole, who announced on Monday that he is expecting his second child with wife Zoe, told Good Morning Britain that he was already “very impressed” with partner Charlotte Hawkins’ skills.

“I feel I can really dance with her, which is a really nice feeling and you don’t often get that,” he said.

Hawkins, meanwhile, betrayed her nerves as she said it would be “very different” taking her practice in the studio to the live stage.

Elsewhere, 2013 contestant and fashion designer Julien Macdonald described the show as one of the toughest challenges of his career, but said he cannot wait to tune in.

Busy showing at London Fashion Week, he said: “It’s tricky to say who will go first.

“I asked my former partner Janette (Manrara) if Aston Merrygold could dance and she said ‘everybody thinks he can dance ‘cos he was in JLS, but he can do a back-flip and a cartwheel but his Tango is s*** – we’ve got a long way to go’.

“Strictly is really, really hard – it’s not all sequins.

“That show is tougher than any Fashion Week show I’ve ever done in my life – and I never wanna go back.”