Lesley Joseph

She’s got maturity, flexibility and well-honed performance skills on her side. Don’t underestimate actress and broadcaster Lesley Joseph!

Best known for playing salacious snob Dorien Green in Birds of a Feather, she’s our oldest contestant this year. But Lesley is determined to show these kids she’s every bit as likely to lift the Glitterball Trophy as anyone.

“I can be very competitive when I want to be,” she admits. “But I don’t want to spoil the fun of Strictly. I want to enjoy the experience of learning and indulge in the fun of the show.”

Dorien’s now-legendary routine to Madonna’s Like A Virgin during a 1992 Birds of a Feather episode might have people assuming Lesley’s Strictly stint will be a clumsy, racy, watch-through-your-fingers affair. But she’s actually got a lot more in her locker than her on-screen character.

Lesley studied ballet as a child, and she owes her fitness levels to regular yoga. And her main love is theatre, having trod the boards in productions including Annie, Hot Flush, The Vagina Monologues, Godspell and Calendar Girls, so performance is second nature to her.

“I’ve done musicals all my life so I’ve got rhythm and co-ordination and I know how to perform,” says Lesley. “But I’m not good at precision and I think it will be a big challenge to do all the slow dances.”

But it seems, while the real-life Lesley is a million miles from her most famous role, the glitz of Strictly threatens to bring out shades of Dorien: “It’s the most glamorous show; I can’t think of any other where you are encouraged to get spray tans and it’s okay to wear the biggest hair piece and false lashes you can get!”