Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I believe in civil partnerships as it protects each partner. Whether I believe in marriage is a different thing.
Discovering that my great-great-grandfather Harry was Australasian clog-dancing champion in 1871 was extraordinary.
I've learnt not to expect a lot from supermodels - we've had them on 'Strictly' before and they've been horrendous.
If I was to pretend my father didn't exist and I didn't have anything to remember him by, then it wouldn't be healthy.
I chose when I was 30 to change my life entirely and become a director and sit in the dark and that's what I love doing.
What would people be surprised to know about me? That I love cooking and chopping wood for the heating system in my house.
I met Prince Harry at Westminster and I want him to be my new boyfriend, but unfortunately I don't think it is going to happen.
The X Factor' - I watch it because I'm always searching for talent to use in my musicals, so they do all the groundwork for me.
You are under great scrutiny when you are adopting, more so than natural parents. There are a lot of interviews, screenings etc.
I'm on Grindr, Scruff, Match.com. That's the way everyone meets these days, three of my friends have got married after meeting on Grindr.
But 'Strictly' is meant to showcase people with talents in acting, singing, sports, journalism… not fame-seekers with no discernible talent.
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.
Love Island' is for people who aren't celebrities, who've done nothing in their life and are trying to be someone and get something to be famous.
Sports men and women need hip replacements. It was all those years of classical ballet and forcing turn-outs. It can be quite detrimental to your body.
Strictly' has evolved - there are such beautiful stories within each dance. We're not doing a ballroom and Latin competition, it's an entertainment show.
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.
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.
Buying my new house in the country wasn't about showing off or being something I'm not, like Madonna when she turned into the country lass with her tweeds on.
Don't get me wrong, I really like being a judge on 'Strictly.' But my first love and passion is directing and choreography and I will be doing that until the day I die.
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.
X Factor' creates a Christmas single that puts money in other people's pockets. Whereas 'Strictly''s not out to do that, at all. That's why I stand up for it - it isn't car-crash television.
With 'The X Factor' I think the audiences have lost faith and trust in it so that's its problem. You want to be watching something real and dynamic and something you can trust and believe in.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.