Even I've struggled to KEEP DANCING'

Former Strictly judge Arlene Phillips opens up on why she challenges herself to be active every day

- HAYLEY MINN

It’s hard to believe that Arlene Phillips is 77 years old and unsurprisingly the dancer and choreographer insists she doesn’t feel it at all, thanks to her active lifestyle.

Before lockdown, the former Strictly Come Dancing judge tells us, a usual day for her would involve waking up early, doing some exercise before breakfast, then she’d go straight to dance rehearsals, where she’d stay for the whole day, before heading off to see a show in the evening. And now she’s still trying to keep as fit as possible – albeit with much less dancing than usual.

‘At first I started focusing on dancing every day, and then, gradually, as the silence invaded, the dance didn’t come to me as joyfully as it normally does,’ she confesses.

‘It was quite hard to get up and dance because it’s part of what you do in your work and the distance, it seems, before anyone of us in theatre or dance sees in going back to work; it’s like standing and watching the sea go out.’

Instead, Arlene has been focusing on walking up to 20,000 steps a day, including a lot of uphill challenges.