Maisie Smith has praised Strictly for getting her out of her comfort zone and boosting her confidence.
The teenager is set to take part in Saturday’s final with professional partner Gorka Marquez.
Speaking about the show and its challenges, she said it had pushed her out of her comfort zone after being thrown into the deep end.
The 19-year-old EastEnders star will perform a samba to Gloria Estefan’s song Samba, a showdance to Idina Menzel’s We Need A Little Christmas and a quickstep to Andy Williams’ When You’re Smiling.
Maisie said: “I have been thrown into the deep end, so in a way it has helped me with confidence because on this show, it goes so quick.
Maisie says her confidence has been boosted from the show (Image: PA)
“You just have to go out there and do it and it has pushed me just to get over it and I try and feel happier with myself.
“It’s only been eight weeks and I already feel better about myself and I didn’t expect that to ever happen.”
She said it would be “mad” and “incredible” if she could win the trophy, adding: “To bring the glitterball home to my family, it would mean a lot because I know how proud they would be of me for that.”
Smith, who found herself in the dance off two weeks in a row earlier in the series, said the experience helped her.
Maisie and her partner will perform in Saturday’s final (Image: BBC)
She said: “I think being in the bottom two, it kind of made me realise how much this meant to me and it did give me a massive push to just keep working as hard as I can and I think that was the turning point for me that made me just think, ‘I have just got to put my all into this’.”
She added that it has been “paying off ever since”.
Jamie Laing, who is also in the final with his partner Karen Hauer, said performing on Strictly had been challenging.
“It is a really tough show, in a great way,” he said.
The actress says she was thrown into the deep end (Image: Instagram)
“It is one of the toughest things I have probably done in terms of physical and mental sort of toughness.”
Laing will perform a Charleston to Zero To Hero from the Disney film Hercules in the final, along with a showdance to a cover of Sir Elton John’s I’m Still Standing.
They will also perform their couple’s choice routine to Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) by C+C Music Factory.
The Strictly Come Dancing finale airs on BBC One on December 19 at 6pm.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
