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Lisa Riley: 'I feel like a Princess on Strictly Come Dancing'

Lisa Riley has admitted that being on Strictly Come Dancing makes her feel like ‘a princess.’

The former Emmerdale actress stunned viewers on Saturday night after her cha-cha-cha saw her top the leaderboard and garner praise from all the judges – including the infamously hard-to-please Craig Revel Horwood.

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She said: ‘I finally feel like a princess for the first time in my life. Nobody can explain how I feel right now.

‘I spend my life playing mingers and all of a sudden I feel like I’m in Dynasty.’

Her performance marked the first time a female dancer has picked up her male partner and it certainly paid off, as she received a huge 30 points out of a possible 40. 

Miss Riley was originally cast as the ‘joke’ act of the competition with Ladbrookes giving her odds of 100/1 to pick up the trophy, but her performance on Saturday has seen her odds slash to 16/1 and make her one of the favourites to win.

The actress who said that she was ‘joining the competition for chubbers everywhere’ is hoping that her public success on the show will help other women to embrace life, whatever their size.

‘If I can inspire one woman to get up and dance, then I’ve done my job’ she said.


And it’s not just Lisa that’s loving her experience on the BBC1 show. Kimberly Walsh has admitted that she is having the time of her life, and it’s mainly because she can eat whatever she wants.

The Girls Aloud singer has apparently been enjoying the fact that she is finally able to come off the low-carb diet, that she has stuck to since shooting to fame ten years ago.



An insider told a UK magazine:



'She’s always been used to low-carb, high-protein diets to stay slim, and her new diet is the opposite of everything she’d lived by for the past ten years.'

'She’s calling it the Strictly diet. The only rule is that all the food that was off-limits is now on again.'

The insider continued:

'Kimberley knows he can’t do this competition on salad and a grapefruit – it’d make you ill.

'She’s enjoying the foods that used to be forbidden and tucking into things like lasagne without feeling guilty.'



Read more:

• Louis Smith admits crush on Kimberly Walsh
• Strictly wins ratings war with X Factor