Vicky Pattison was announced as the 11th celebrity contestant for Strictly Come Dancing 2025 on Thursday's This Morning. The reality TV star revealed her excitement but admitted to feeling nervous about the upcoming competition.
"I'm absolutely buzzing to be part of this year's Strictly Come Dancing line-up but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified," Pattison said. "I am not a natural dancer! However, it's such an amazing opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone and to challenge myself in a completely new way and I just really hope I don't make too much of a fool of myself!"
The former Geordie Shore personality has already set her sights on a specific professional partner. "Although, I do love Johannes. I think he's an amazing dancer," she revealed, expressing her preference for Johannes Radebe as her dance partner.
Dancing fears and expectations
Pattison described her feelings about entering the competition during a recent podcast episode. "It's just complete and abject terror that I feel," she confessed, before revealing that her Strictly codename was "Vantage".
She expressed anxiety about finding the right professional partner. "I do feel a certain level of anxiety over my instructor. I do feel like the sort of pressure is on to find someone that you can have that bond and affinity with," she explained.
Pattison compared her expected performance to Ann Widdecombe, joking: "I'm just gonna be like the Ann Widdecombe, getting dragged round the f****** floor like a feather duster."
Marriage concerns and partner preference
Pattison's recent marriage to clothing brand owner Ercan Ramadan in August 2024 has influenced her partner preference. The wedding was filmed for the E4 documentary "Vicky Pattison: My Big Fat Geordie Wedding".
She explained concerns about "Strictly curse" rumours, saying: "Obviously, I'm newly married and the press are just like wild, aren't they? I feel like the whole chemistry between your couples can easily be misrepresented."
"For that side of things, I would absolutely really love a gay partner. Just because I don't want any of the rumours. But you can't go round requesting things like that," she added.
Reality TV background
Pattison captured public affection after being crowned Queen of the Jungle on I'm a Celebrity back in 2015. She currently hosts a Saturday afternoon programme on Heart Radio and fronts two popular podcasts: Get A Grip with Angela Scanlon and BBC Sounds Love Bombed.
Angela Scanlon, who competed in Strictly in 2023, offered perspective on Pattison's Johannes preference during their podcast. Scanlon suggested that Johannes might be "too tall" for Pattison as a dance partner.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this autumn.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
