Anneka Rice on Strictly costumes: ‘I asked to wear trousers but the dresses are getting shorter’

The 60-year-old, who is paired with 2018 champion Kevin Clifton, revealed she had asked to wear trousers – a request, it appears, that went unheard.

“The first time I turned up for a fitting, I asked to wear trousers, but this tiny dress appeared,” she told Radio Times magazine. “And it seems to have gotten shorter and shorter.

“When I met the other contestants, Michelle Visage oozed New York glamour and I oozed Deep Heat and massive insecurity.”

She continued: "It feels utterly weird and I'm definitely not 'Strictlyfied' yet. I have said I would like every week to be in some kind of trouser, but no one listened to me for the first week so who knows?"

Rice, who has previously confessed to have never danced before and even admitted to being kicked out of her ballet class as a child for being “too wooden”, added that it was “50/50” to whether she would be able to even do Strictly, after injuring her shoulder in the run-up to the show.

Fellow star Jamie Laing was forced to pull out earlier this year after injuring his leg, seeing him replaced by Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher.

The severity of Rice's injury has already seen her bow out of the group dance on the launch show.

“I injured my shoulder after falling on a slippery slope in my neighbours garden and ended up in A&E,” she said.

“I had a cortisone injection and was called in to see the producers and was told it was 50/50 whether I could still do Strictly. Thankfully, it ended up fine. The show must go on.”

Strictly Come Dancing launches Saturday 21st September at 7pm on BBC One.

Read Anneka Rice and James Cracknell’s weekly column in Radio Times magazine, out every Tuesday