Newsreader Kate Silverton has admitted she is getting some “special” dancing shoes made for her time on Strictly Come Dancing.
Kate, 48, was announced for the upcoming series alongside comedian Sean Walsh during last night’s episode of The One Show.
She told hosts Alex Jones and Rory Reid she has no talent for dancing – and it seems her size nines have caused her difficulties on the dance floor before.
The BBC journalist told the Daily Mail her first dance with husband Mike Heron on their wedding day nearly eight years ago was not a roaring success.
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Insisting she was at fault for ‘messing up’, Kate explained: “My feet got in the way.”
Not that Kate feels unhappy with her footsies – but she does acknowledge their size isn’t exactly run-of-the-mill in comparison to those of other celebrity dancers.
“I’m having to have special shoes made for me because Strictly didn’t have any big enough,” she said.
Adding she was already wore a size eight shoe by the time she was 14, Kate also joked about how she sometimes had to wear boys’ shoes as a teen.
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Having been asked to take part on Strictly two times before now – in 2006 when she was covering the Iraq war and in 2009 shortly after beginning a round of fertility treatment – Kate is clear on what she is looking for in her dream dance partner.
She is eyeing up hunky Slovenian Aljaz Skorjanec, paired last year with Gemma Atkinson, to teach her in the ways of the foxtrot, the jive and the cha-cha-cha.
Kate joked: “Let’s say the benchmark is quite low. Whoever I dance with has to be taller, wider and have bigger feet.”
Also announced for this year’s Strictly are Pussycat Dolls star Ashley Roberts, documentary presenter Stacey Dooley, This Morning’s Dr Ranj Singh, former cricketer Graeme Swann, TV presenter Katie Piper, Steps singer Faye Tozer, Red Dwarf actor Danny John-Jules, YouTube star Joe Sugg and DJ Vick Hope.
It will return to BBC One later in the autumn.
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