She might have made it as far as the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ finals, but it’s been revealed that Louise Redknapp almost pulled out of this year’s series altogether due to nerves.
Louise has definitely been one of the stand-outs of ‘Strictly’ this year, and will be competing against Ore Oduba and Danny Mac in Saturday night’s (17 December) live final.
However, her professional partner Kevin Clifton has revealed that she almost didn’t even make it to the first show, let alone the grand finale.
Speaking at a ‘Strictly’ press conference earlier this week, he said (via Digital Spy): “Right at the beginning of the series, Louise came in and said to me, ‘I nearly didn’t do it in the end. I’ve always wanted to do it but I was really scared’.
“She said, ‘I’ll give you my best but I’m probably not going to be confident enough to do any of that jazz hands and thigh slapping stuff’. And I said, ‘Unfortunately, Louise, you’re partnered with me’. Fast-forward to Musicals Week and she’s going for it...”
Louise previously revealed her concerns about how she’d perform on the show in an exclusive interview with HuffPost UK, before the series began.
She said: “[The scariest aspect] is just not embarrassing myself… I just don’t want to let myself down, or let anyone else down. I want to be able to hold my head up high when I come out of it.”
But Louise isn’t the only memorable contestant from this year’s series who almost backed out at the last minute, with Lesley Joseph previously admitting that Ed Balls had also had second thoughts at the eleventh hour.
The ‘Strictly’ final kicks off on Saturday at 6.40pm on BBC One.