The final of Strictly Come Dancing is only a few weeks away, which means the elusive glitter ball is in arms reach for the six remaining celebrities and their partners. One of whom is Angela Scanlon, who is back in the running after scoring 38 for her Argentine Tango in Blackpool.
She talks to Grazia about some of her pre-performance rituals, her competitive streak and why she dared to say no to fake tan.
Irish presenter Angela Scanlon, 39, and her partner Carlos Gu sat tight in second place on last week’s leader board, having received an impressive eight and three tens from the judges (no prizes for guessing who the eight was from).
‘Sometimes he’s very strict,’ Angela says of Carlos' training style, ‘and sometimes he’s not.’ She adds, ‘He does this thing where instead of using words he makes noises to make me do something again.’ Whatever they’re doing, it seems to be working. After a difficult week seven, which saw the couple in joint last place for their Samba – Angela and Carlos rose from the ashes to prove just how close the competition still is.
There’s no doubt that margin for error is getting smaller and smaller, but Angela is taking it in her stride.
Having grown up in Ratoath, County Meath, with three sisters, Angela says competitiveness comes naturally to her. ‘I’m one of four girls,’ she jokes, ‘we had to tussle for our supper.’ And the fact she’s close to – but not quite – top of the leader board isn’t lost on her. ‘I’m trying to compete with myself, but that feels like a line, doesn’t it? We need to take the others out!’
Although the couples are nine weeks into the competition, Angela says the nerves they all feel before going on stage haven't died down. Carlos has a nap before they step out each Saturday, Angela tells us, while she has a more holistic approach to psyching herself up.
Angela says, ‘I burn sage, I put camomile oil on me and anyone who comes near me, I have a weird little energy device that I put on and I try to meditate.’ And that’s not all, she also pops a few crystals in her bra for good measure. ‘And I’ll have sticky toffee pudding if it’s on, with hot custard.’
Sequins and feathers aside, it can’t be easy having 6.6 million eyes watching you dance on television every week, but Angela is most concerned about her two toughest critics watching from home – her five-year-old and one-year-old daughters, Ruby and Marnie. ‘I call my girls and have a little chin wag with them. Then I send them a video of the dress rehearsal and get some feedback – sometimes it’s brutally honest and it’s too late at that stage anyway!’
Inspiring her young daughters is one of the main reasons Angela wanted to take part in the show, it’s also one of the reasons she chose not to partake in the Strictly fake tanning rituals. ‘Truthfully, it sounds like a big stance from me, but I just wanted an extra couple of hours at home on a Friday night.'
‘I haven’t worn fake tan for 15 years, maybe 20,’ she adds. ‘I think we all come in different shapes, sizes, colours and tones and I just wanted for my girls to see me as they see me and to show them I’m happy to be myself.’ Angela jokes, ‘that sounds like fake tan changes your whole personality – it doesn’t – but yes, that was one element of it. I have incredibly pale skin and I like it!’
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One on Saturday at 7:30pm.