Dani Dyer says she’s looking forward to feeling ‘sexy’ again after signing up for Strictly Come Dancing.
The reality star, 29, told The Daily Mail she’s using the BBC One dance show as an excuse to wear barely-there outfits, admitting she toned down her racy side when she first made her TV breakthrough on Love Island.
Since her stint on the ITV2 dating series, Dani has married West Ham and England striker Jarrod Bowen, much to the delight of her Hammers’ fan dad, fellow TV star Danny – and the glamorous podcaster has assured her husband he has nothing to worry about when it comes to the show’s infamous ‘curse.’
Now, a mother of three, Dani says she just wants to focus on having fun – and showing fans her hidden, raunchier side.
‘I can’t wait to feel a bit sexy!’ she said. ‘I’ve been a mum, you know what I mean, I’ve been so deep in motherhood, my eldest is four now and the sexy thing, I’m like, am I sexy?
‘When I was on Love Island, I never wore the thong bikinis or anything, I’m like, Dan, why didn’t I do that? Do you know what? I’m going to push the boundaries.’
Dani Dyer says she’s looking forward to feeling ‘sexy’ again after signing up for Strictly Come Dancing
The reality star told The Daily Mail she’s using the BBC One dance show as an excuse to wear barely-there outfits, admitting she toned down her racy side on Love Island
Now, a mother of three, Dani says she just wants to focus on having fun – and showing fans her hidden, raunchier side
And on the Strictly curse, Dani said her husband Jarrod, 28, who she married in May, will be more nervous about being filmed in the audience, than the prospect of his wife of just three-and-half months straying.
Dani, mother to son Santiago, four, from her relationship with ex-boyfriend Sammy Kimmence, and one-year-old twins Summer and Star, with Jarrod, says Strictly will be her biggest challenge since she appeared on Love Island in 2018.
She added: ‘I’m newly married and we’re so good, know what I mean? He’s such a shy person, Jarrod, so when he gets there and they put the camera on him…
‘I am absolutely nervous of course, it’s normal to be nervous but it’s like channeling your nerves. I am so excited because it just feels more real now.
‘This is one of the biggest shows I have done since Love Island and obviously on Love Island you are so protected in a villa with loads of other people and you get through and you think ‘ah, they like us as a couple’ and that was seven years ago.
‘For me, this is massive and I’m just going to try and pretend it’s not live and enjoy it as much as possible.’
Joining Jarrod in the studio will inevitably be her father Danny, 48, who scooped his first BAFTA TV Award this year.
And Dani hopes seeing her in action on the dance floor may tempt the former EastEnders star to show off dome moves of his own.
On the Strictly curse, Dani said her husband Jarrod will be more nervous about being filmed in the audience, than the prospect of his wife of just three-and-half months straying
Dani hopes seeing her in action on the dance floor may tempt her father, former EastEnders star Danny Dyer, to show off dome moves of his own
She said: ‘My dad is so excited for me. He loves the show, and he has come before to support Rose (Ayling-Ellis) when she was doing it, and he was emotional then so he’s saying he has got to keep it together when he watches it. He’s over the moon for me.
‘He absolutely loved my wedding day so much and watching me dance, he will really enjoy it. He loves to dance himself. I need to get him up dancing, absolutely.’
Dani admits she does have some previous dance experience but was quick to stress it was only as part of a weekly dance club when she was younger, brushing off any suggestion she has an advantage over her fellow competitors.
She explained: ‘I was little when I did dancing, and I loved it so much, I went to a little dance school in the east end on a Tuesday and Thursday but when I became a teenager, I just stopped it.
‘The only thing I remembered during rehearsals was the step ball change, I was like, I remember that. ‘When you look at the professional dancers I was like, I’m in the wrong career, I should have been a dancer, but I can’t move that well.’
Elsewhere on the show, rugby legend Chris Robshaw, 39, will also be strutting his stuff on the dance floor.
The former England captain, who is married to opera singer Camilla Kerslake, insists, like Dani, that his partner has nothing to fear when it comes to the curse.
He said: ‘No, no, don’t get me wrong we had a lot of friends message us having a bit of a laugh about it but it’s about having trust in your relationships, and you view your dance partner as a teammate.
‘You have to fully immerse yourself and try and enjoy it.’
And the former England captain is excited about returning to competition, as he misses the ‘buzz’ from competing in rugby after retiring in 2022.
He added: ‘The live element elevates it as well, it’s very nerve wracking but it’s also very exciting, for me being an ex-sportsman, that’s what you miss when you retire, you miss the live buzz.’
