Strictly No Regrets

Leaving Coro was the right move!

- Beth Neil

HOW QUITTING THE SHOW HAS CHANGED CATH’S LIFE FOR THE BETTER

When news broke that former Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley had signed up for Strictly Come Dancing, one of the first people to get in touch was her former dance teacher.

“Well, this is a turn-up for the books!” she joked.

When Cath was at theatre school she was overweight and chronically lacking in confidence, so much so that she did everything possible to dodge dance lessons.

“I never felt body confident enough to do it,” she says of that time. “I felt so much bigger than everyone else and I used to think, ‘Who would be able to lift me?’ About 90% of the classes I just didn’t turn up to. Dance wasn’t my thing at all.”

Since then, Cath has dropped from a size 22 to a 10, gained some much-needed self-esteem and looks completely fabulous, but she says there’s still a psychological hangover from the days she wrestled with her body image.

“In my head, I’m still too big, so I’m hoping [Strictly] will be a bit therapeutic for me. And it might help me break through everything I’m terrified of.

“At the minute it feels like it’s happening to someone else, I’m so far out of my comfort zone. I’m scared of doing a forward roll, so God knows how I’ll cope with the lifts.”

The dance training will also give Cath (36) a new element in her dedicated health and fitness regime, and it’s one she’s relishing. The star has been upping her cardio in preparation for some of the faster-paced Latin dances and is interested to see how her body will respond.