Exclusive: Why dancing queen Rachel Riley is strictly smoked salmon!
Francine Wolfisz is the Features Editor for Jewish News.
Stunning presenter Rachel Riley has danced her way into the third week of Strictly Come Dancing – and her success is apparently down to her penchant for “smoked salmon bagels”, writes Francine Wolfisz.
The blonde 27-year-old, best known for co-hosting Countdown and The Gadget Show, wowed the judges in her bright tangerine, backless mini-dress, when she performed a Latin number with partner Pasha Kova.
While her show-stopping looks and glamorous costumes added up to a perfect formula for the Jewish maths whizz, the panel were less easily impressed by her moves on the dancefloor.
Judge Darcey Bussell told her: “There’s lots of sugar, but not a lot of spice,” Meanwhile Len Goodman commented: “I thought you were working your assets quite a bit out there, shaking your thing. You’ve just got to have a little more precision and attack.”
Riley told the Jewish News that she is the “complete opposite” of a natural dancer, adding: “Pascha is having to teach me every millimetre of what I should be doing.”
The pair have been getting in as many as nine hours training on some days, but practice aside, the recently-married presenter revealed her top weapon in winning the dance competition.
“I’m having a smoked salmon beigel in the mornings, if I can get away with it!”, she confessed. “Meanwhile Pasha is something of a chocaholic – the biggest one I’ve ever met actually!”
She added: “There’s so many dances I want to try. It’s been so fun working with Pasha and I’m loving the training. I just want to carry on and do that for as long as possible.”
* Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday, 6.30pm, BBC 1.
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