Life is short, so go for things you enjoy.
Darcey Bussell
For me, in my life, dyslexia has been a little bit of a blessing. It helped me find my strength and directed me towards what I really wanted to do.
I know some people aspire to a ballerina's body, but I looked forward to feeling more feminine.
You tend to regret the things you haven't done.
The jogging machine makes me go insane with boredom.
We only open a couple of presents on Christmas morning; we're all about the stockings - we even get them for the dogs!
For every dancer, no matter how amazing your career, there's more to life than ballet. Being adored by your audience, it's only part of the story.
I always knew I was a bit different from my friends, had too much energy, and suddenly I could get it all out with ballet.
I didn't worry too much about staying in shape once I'd stopped dancing. You get to the point where you just burn out and have to give your body a chance to heal.
Dance is a great way to express yourself.
I was pretty rubbish when I first started dancing. I didn't understand the discipline of working on one step over and over again. If you look at it from the outside, you'd think, 'Why would anybody want to do that?' But you just want to get it perfect. It is that constant inner striving that you fall in love with.
The hardest thing about 'Strictly' is having to sit still for so long; it just about kills me.
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.
Dancing has always been a passion for me, one that I will probably never be rid of.
I loved gymnastics, and my gymnastics teacher said ballet was essential to help my dance routines in competitions. I only really went because my friends were going as well. It wasn't this kind of hidden love. Then, slowly, my friends stopped going and I thought, 'I like this. I am going to stay.'
Weirdly, I didn't even know that I said 'yah' all the time.
I've got that personality where I've always been determined. As a dancer, I was constantly improving and perfecting. I guess it's innate.
We always want what we don't have, and I'd like a long, sophisticated nose rather than a short, turned-up one.
I don't see anything negative about dance. It is so good for you, mentally and physically, and so for me to promote it is the easiest thing to do.
I've achieved everything I've wanted to achieve, so I'm not scared of failure. I never gave up, however bad the injuries got.
I dye my hair, and I use teeth whitening strips. Unless I burnt myself or damaged my skin, I wouldn't have cosmetic surgery.
The best thing is to lie in a warm Epsom salts bath for 15 minutes and then go straight to bed. You will sleep really well afterwards.
I joined the Royal Ballet School when I was 13. Before then, I'd done ballet twice a week after school. The rest of my class had started aged 11, so I'd missed two years and was really far behind.
The Royal Academy of Dance is an institution that trains to a very high standard.
I can't imagine leaving the theatre altogether. My dressing room has become a home from home.
This perception that we can be stars without any work and just appear is rubbish.
You don't just become a success overnight.
My mum sent me to ballet from the age of five, not because I was that into it but because I had really knock knees.
I've always been quite famous for my nose.
Classical ballet is very extreme. You're doing it six days a week, and it's a kind of obsession of perfecting a move. So every muscle in your body has been stretched and tightened, stretched and tightened.
Before a show, I usually give myself two-and-a-half hours to get ready. I prepare my shoes first. New ballet pumps can sound like tap shoes. You have to take the noise out of them by hitting them against stone. It takes half an hour to do each pair, and I can go through three pairs in one night.
As long as everything is happy at home, I can be totally selfish at work.
I never imagined I'd be a presenter on television, but I'm happy to put myself out of my comfort zone.
I love Australia; it's such an outdoor life.
Confidence comes from other places, not just how you look.
When I was a teenager, I used to watch the 'Making Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'' video and try to follow the steps and do the 'Thriller' moves in my bedroom. That was the most incredible dance sequence.
I wanted to inspire every little girl who wants to be a dancer to fire their imagination about the joys of being on the stage.
I used to wear long jumpers, but they made me look like a bag tied up in the middle.
I don't get much sleep, so I have really bad bags under my eyes.
Sometimes I regret that I don't have a bit more fun with money. I should have spoilt myself a bit more. Life isn't going to last for ever.
I need help to ensure I grow old gracefully! So now I always apply moisturiser and foundation with an SPF, to protect my skin from the sun.
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.
If I start something, I have to finish it. I know that's annoying - it drives my husband mad - but even if something's not going my way, I have to see it through.
Looking after myself is something I probably have to be much more conscious of than the average person.
Being on stage taught me how to apply eyeliner.
Now I'm on television, I'm far more conscious of my skin than I used to be - I would often leave the theatre with layers of pancake make-up still on my face, but on a medium such as TV, I have to be more fastidious.
I suppose you could say there is an in-built stubbornness to me.
I need to have dark chocolate in the cupboard - Green & Black's is good, but any will do.
The orthopaedic surgeon said that if ever I had hip or groin pain, I should rest until the pain went. However, resting is not part of a dancer's life - so I just danced through the pain.
I absolutely loved learning how to do stage make-up at 16: it was so interesting to learn all about what you can do with make-up, such as contouring or shadowing eyes. We had a lot of fun.
