Strictly Come Dancing: Chris Appleton admits feeling “vulnerable” on show

Chris Appleton, the first celebrity voted off this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, has reflected on his short time on the show.

The celebrity hair stylist and his pro partner Amy Dowden became the first couple to be eliminated from the competition at the weekend after losing the dance-off against Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu.

“I chose to do Strictly to challenge myself to not be good at something,” Appleton told Monday’s episode of Strictly – It Takes Two. “I’ve been doing hair for the last 30 years, and it was really refreshing to have no idea.

“It challenged me in ways I never knew I would possibly have to face. I’m just grateful that I had someone like Amy by my side, because honestly, there were days where I just did not know what was happening. But she got me through that.”

Asked about the biggest challenges of the experience, he answered: “I think it was just going out there, being so vulnerable. I think the last time I felt that vulnerable was, I don’t know, as a kid at school, because I became good at what I did in my career and I felt like I knew it.

“So going out there and dancing… if you’d ever said to someone about me dancing, they would laugh! My son said to me when I said I was going to do Strictly, ‘Dad, you better start doing yoga, because those hips are really stiff.’ And I laughed at it, but I didn’t really realise, when I’d be standing in front of the nation doing it, that he was right.”

Strictly – It Takes Two airs weeknights at 6.30pm on BBC Two and iPlayer.