When I started on 'Strictly,' I was terrified. Live television seemed like the most daunting thing in the world.

As a little girl, I didn't dream of being a ballet dancer; I dreamt of being a movie star like Ginger Rogers and dancing with Fred Astaire. I used to watch the Sunday double-bills on TV and Iong to be part of what seemed a perfect Disneyland world. Astaire was a genius.

When I started, there was a very strong image of what the ballerina was supposed to be in her tights and her costume, and then I started doing photo shoots in bomber boots, and it wasn't seen as the done thing.

I never imagined I'd be a presenter on television, but I'm happy to put myself out of my comfort zone.

Being a full-time mother is one of the biggest jobs in the world; it's like another career for me. I love every moment of it - even the challenge of making cupcakes.

Fonteyn was our first proper British ballerina, and from the moment I started dancing, her image engulfed me. In my first year at the Royal Ballet School, Margot's statue was outside my dormitory. Like generations of budding ballet dancers before me, I used to touch her middle finger for luck.