The thought of getting glammed up to the max every week is enough of a draw for many celebrities who sign up for Strictly Come Dancing – but it seems that Nina Wadia is not one of them.
Nina is one of 15 celebrities who’s set to throw on her dancing shoes and be put through her paces on the new series of Strictly.
However, the EastEnders star has admitted the thought of getting “Strictly-fied” is something that fills her with dread.
“I hate it!” she told reporters including HuffPost UK before filming began on this year’s Strictly launch. “I am very much a t-shirt and jeans girl.”
She continued: “I do get dressed up for things I have to do, like TV appearances or if the character I’m playing in something demands it.
“When I played Zainab Masood in EastEnders, I was like, ‘don’t worry about hair and makeup, just make Zainab as plain as possible’ because I don’t like sitting in the makeup chair for too long! I don’t like people pulling on my hair. And shiny things just scratch me and irritate me.”
“So this is the best show for me, isn’t it?” she joked. “Really!”
Nina also said that her main motivation for taking part in Strictly was learning how to dance, and “improve on what I can do”.
“I just don’t want to be too old to do it. I’m 52 and my joints hurt,” she said with a laugh, when asked why 2021 was the year she decided to sign up.
Last month, Nina was revealed to be on the Strictly line-up during a reveal on Lorraine, something she admitted left her feeling “terrified”.
She recalled: “I tell you, the moment it really sunk in was after the reveal on Lorraine. I’d finished the reveal, I walked off set and I thought, ‘I’m going to be sick’. It was just very real in that moment.”
Nina is one of two contestants from EastEnders taking part in Strictly this year, with Rose Ayling-Ellis making history as the first deaf competitor to ever appear on the show.
Also making Strictly history is former Great British Bake Off winner John Whaite, who will compete as part of the show’s first ever male partnership.
Strictly’s launch show will air on BBC One on Saturday 18 September, with live shows beginning the following weekend.