There can be dramas in your life and you can get over them and become someone. You don't have to wallow in self-pity; you can actually use the experiences in your life to push yourself further and help others.
Craig Revel Horwood
I might be a celebrity but I've still got to have the dosh.
I'm tongue in cheek, but very much to the point.
Freddie Mercury made a lot of sense to me even though I didn't understand the lyrics.
I'm a lovely person, considerate and loving.
I go through the same trials and tribulations as anyone else.
I danced with Courtney Act, which was absolutely fantastic.
I play the Wicked Queen in 'Snow White.' I'm not typecast. It's terrible. I should be Prince Charming.
For personality, you're not going to get better than Ricky Groves. He really goes for it.
I hated sport, but at 13, I went to an aerobics class and the teacher thought I had natural rhythm. She suggested formal dance classes, and that's when I finally found something I was really good at.
I like laying by the pool but I do tend to get a bit bored after a couple of days chilling out.
Friendly Fires were dull, and I wouldn't really sit down and listen to Hot Chip.
What would people be surprised to know about me? That I love cooking and chopping wood for the heating system in my house.
I believe in civil partnerships as it protects each partner. Whether I believe in marriage is a different thing.
If you really have a passion for something, you should follow it and listen to your inner voice.
Actors are very emotional, whereas sports people are used to criticism.
Yes I've had my nose done.
I like committed, one-on-one relationships. That's just who I am.
I once called EastEnders' Patsy Palmer 'a scrubber in a Puffa jacket who cries all the time' on 'Strictly.' She said I wasn't actually a dancer. That wasn't my finest moment.
But 'Strictly' is meant to showcase people with talents in acting, singing, sports, journalism… not fame-seekers with no discernible talent.
Discovering that my great-great-grandfather Harry was Australasian clog-dancing champion in 1871 was extraordinary.
My advice gets misconstrued as being mean.
I think women should be paid the same as men. That's for sure. But what would you say to a woman coming in after you've been in the job for 15 years when they've done absolutely nothing to earn it? I don't think that's right.
I'm a workaholic.
My ears are too big.
When I was opening my first bank account, the person at the counter thought I was a girl.
My tights split while I was tap dancing in the West End in 1993.
I used to go to clubs and sing as myself but people weren't interested. And then I turned up as a woman and suddenly everyone was interested.
When I'm in a relationship I'm monogamous.
Anything people say about me I don't care. I really don't care. You read so much terrible stuff about yourself it sort of just ends up washing over.
I had long eyelashes and the other kids used to say I wore mascara.
I feel as though I'm constantly defending myself. I'm up against challengers from the ballroom world, from the dance world, people on the couch who hate what I'm saying about their favourite celebrity. Then you're up against the press, who will always want to put you in a box.
As a dancer, you go from one show to the next, and you never know where your next pound is coming from, and I think that's what makes me say yes to so many things, because there's always a fear that you won't have a job.
I direct as many shows as I can fit in between 'Strictly Come Dancing' and other performance stuff.
I'm not saying the persona on 'Strictly' isn't me - it's just that the nurturing side, which is also a part of who I am, isn't what I'm there for. I'm there to judge and to give an honest opinion, even if it's not the opinion someone wants to hear.
My relationship with my dad was complex, especially when I came out. The years of verbal abuse, all of it drink-fuelled, were difficult. Later, though, he came to see me on stage in 'La Cage aux Folles' - one of his favourite shows - and loved it. Theatre won him over and he accepted me in the end.
I always thought I needed the support of someone in a long-term relationship to make me whole.
Lots of celebrities have had some sort of dance training, especially actors or singers - they have to have some movement skill and be trained physically.
Street dance resonates for teenagers. It's inclusive and brings in different audiences.
If I have to do my tax online, the government should pay for my Internet hook-up, darling.
I always say the most important thing is the ability to act, then sing, then dance - in that order.
I like fresh, crisp, cool, plain white cotton sheets from Calvin Klein.
I love my bike, a hybrid Matrix Express, which is fast, cheap, easy to park and good exercise.
I love my sporty but classic brown leather Picard satchel.
I've got an iPod, of course. I'm all Mac'd up!
Villains are far more interesting to play than nice people.
I like working with directors I respect, who give me freedom but also give me a good base from which to work.
When you take on an acting or dancing role, you have to trust your director, and in some ways there is freedom in relinquishing control.
How many dancers in their life get a job that will last 15 years? Not many.
Strictly' is the most successful reality format in the world - it's in the 'Guinness Book of Records' - going to 38 countries. 'X Factor' hasn't done that.
