Denise Van Outen has revealed that she once turned down the opportunity to host Strictly Come Dancing.
The 48-year-old made the shock confession while speaking to entrepreneur and investor Matt Haycox on The Matt Haycox Show.
Denise Van Outen talks opportunities
During the interview with Matt Haycox, shared to his YouTube channel, Denise revealed that she once turned down the opportunity to host Strictly.
In the chat, Matt and Denise spoke about how some opportunities lead to other opportunities.
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Speaking about previous jobs, Denise said: “I’ve turned everything into another opportunity.”
“Or I’ve learned something from it,” she continued. “So I kind of see it as a good thing, really.”
Denise Van Outen turned down Strictly
Continuing with their discussion of opportunities, Denise revealed that she was once offered a hosting role on Strictly.
“When they first came up with the idea of Strictly Come Dancing, I knew Bruce Forsyth really well,” she said.
“I’d done a few shows with him, we used to sing together,” she explained.
“And he came to me and approached me to be his sidekick on Strictly Come Dancing,” she revealed.
“And said to me ‘there’s this show, it’s all ballroom, it’s going to be celebrities’. He said ‘I want to open the show with a song and dance number with you, close it with you, because he knew that I danced and I sang.”
Denise then continued, saying: “I remember sitting there and going ‘Bruce, it sounds really boring.'”
Laughing, she then went on to say: “So they gave it to Tess Daly.”
Denise on Strictly
Denise then confessed she was worried she’d made a mistake at first.
“And then at the time, I remember it was a huge hit and I was thinking ‘oh, maybe I was a bit of an idiot there turning that down’,” she said.
“But actually, when I look back – because Tess has done it for many years, and just kind of does that, and she’s associated with it,” she continued.
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“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,” she said.
“And I wouldn’t have had such a varied career,” she said. “So actually for me, it worked out.”
Denise did eventually get a crack at Strictly back in 2012, when she finished runner-up.
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