Denise van Outen rejected the opportunity to present Strictly Come Dancing before it was given to Tess Daly, it has been revealed.
The 48-year-old TV presenter revealed she was asked by her later friend and Strictly icon Bruce Forsyth to be his co-host when the BBC show first launched in 2004.
However, when Bruce told her the show’s format, the Celebrity Gogglebox star confessed that she thought it “sounded boring”.
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Speaking to entrepreneur and investor Matt Haycox on The Matt Haycox Show, she confessed: “When they first came up with the idea, I was offered Strictly Come Dancing.
“I knew Bruce Forsyth really well. And I’ve done a few shows with him. We used to sing together.”
Denise explained: “He [Bruce] came to me and approached me to be his sidekick in the new Strictly Come Dancing.
“He said to me, ‘There’s this show, it’s all ballroom, it’s gonna be celebrities’. And he said, ‘I want to open the show with a song and dance with you, and close it with you’ – because he knew that I danced and sang.
“I remember sitting there and I went to him ‘Bruce, it sounds really boring!’
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“So, they gave it to Tess Daly. Then it became a huge hit, and I was thinking maybe I was an idiot turning that down.
Praising how well Tess has done on the show, Denise added: “But, actually, when I look back, Tess has done it so well for many years, but just kind of does that, and she’s associated with it.
“Whereas I went on to do Broadway, I’ve done film, I’ve done theatre in the West End – I’ve done so many other things.
(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
“And, I wouldn’t have had such a varied career if I’d taken it. So, actually, for me, it worked out.”
The mum-of-one said she needs to have variety in her life because she has ADHD.
She explained: “Variety is the main thing for me, because I have ADHD. So I do get bored very quickly. So, I just like to do different things.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
