Caroline Quentin explains previous dance experience ahead of Strictly Come Dancing

The hit competition returns to BBC One later this year, with Caroline Quentin confirmed as one of 12 stars in the running for that iconic Glitetterball trophy, alongside Olympic boxer Nicola Adams and comedian Bill Bailey.

Since her announcement for the show, Quentin has mentioned studying ballet between the ages of three and 12 years old, elaborating more on that experience in a new interview with Daily Mirror.

"I was a precociously good dancer," she said. "Hard to imagine looking at me now. I was good at it."

"The school I went to, it was a bit like the Royal Ballet school. I wasn't sent because I was going to meet the right people, I was there to learn to dance, which is really painful and tiring."

Ultimately, Quentin decided to transition from dance to acting, citing the physical strain as her main motivation for doing so.

She continued: "It's so tiring being a dancer. If you're thinking about it, by all means consider it but I'm telling you now, it's exhausting."

However, her early work on stage from Les Miserables to "end-of-the-pier stuff" opened the door for her way into television, ultimately becoming a national star with her role in sitcom Men Behaving Badly.

Quentin added: "People think you arrive in a sitcom and don't realise 10-12 years before that you were dorrising around in a set of feathers on the end of a pier."

With all 12 celebrities now confirmed for the Strictly Come Dancing line-up, the show is gearing up for a return to BBC One later this month, preceded by a handful of retrospective spin-offs.

Strictly: The Best Of will see judges Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas look back on past highlights from the show's themed weeks: movies, musicals, Blackpool and the finals.

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One later this year. If you're looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide.