'I manifested being paired with Graziano'

Strictly partners Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima on their gruelling training regime, filming TikTok videos and their unbreakable bond

- LAUREN MORRIS

Zara McDermott made Strictly Come Dancing history this year as the first former Love Islander to be invited on the show – and she admits training for the BBC extravaganza has taken over her life.

Embracing early morning starts, hours of rehearsals every day and evenings spent watching critiques from professional partner Graziano Di Prima, the documentary presenter is giving the show everything she’s got.

With her stunning looks and supermodel figure, you might assume Zara would be a natural on the dance floor, however she confides she suffered with self-esteem issues as a child, and has always felt physically self-conscious.

“I’ve always been that uncoordinated, lanky person who doesn’t look smooth when they move,” she says. “I even remember feeling it at school, dancing with my friends. I must have been 10. I never felt confident in my own skin when doing any kind of movement.”

But Zara is so determined to learn to dance, she’s spending up to 12 hours a day training. In fact, she’s so committed to her regime that she arrives for our OK! photoshoot at London’s Ida Restaurant at 6.30am so we can get the photoshoot in the bag before she heads off to rehearsals.

“For a complete novice non-dancer like me, it’s very intense to try to get something as perfect as you possibly can,” says Zara. “I get to training just before 8am, we grab something really quick for lunch and keep going until sometimes 6, 8, 9pm. I go to sleep and repeat the next day. This is my life at the moment.”