Dianne Buswell: Strictly pro addresses being well enough to perform ‘Very vicious circle’
DIANNE BUSWELL - the Strictly Come Dancing 2019 professional - has opened up about the time she “didn’t feel well enough to perform”, long before she wowed on the BBC show.
Dianne Buswell joined Strictly Come Dancing back in 2017 and is now dating her former partner Joe Sugg. The professional dancer’s career however hasn’t all been plain sailing and she used to think “I need to get a better body to stand out on stage”. The 30-year-old has said she felt “pressure” from her environment, after leaving her hometown of Bunbury in western Australia to work with a prestigious national dance company, and a global tour followed. But it was while the BBC star was on the road that she began a dangerous path of controlled eating and excessive exercise.
I was dancing the show thinking, ‘I don’t think I can do this’
Speaking to the latest issue of Happiful, Dianne said hitting the gum between three shows a day and cutting out meals “was an addiction”.
She commented: “I literally went from this bright, bubbly person to a really low-energy Dianne, who’d wake up at one in the afternoon because I was so tired.”
When her weight plummeted, the star said her partner told her her breathing was laboured and walking up a flight of stairs was difficult.
The pro continued: “Energy has to come from somewhere, and I was getting none of it. It got to the point where I had no physical energy to do the show or other things.
“Anxiety came with it, because I didn’t feel well enough to perform, and had to every night.”
Dianne added: “The anxiety stemmed from worrying whether I’d get through it. I was dancing the show thinking: ‘I don’t think I can do this’.
“It was a very vicious circle. Thank God I caught it when I did.”
It was when the now girlfriend of vlogger Joe, 28, flew home to see her family that she was rushed to the doctor.
She found out she was suffering from iron deficiency anaemia and she instantly felt the change on getting a transfusion.
Dianne told the publication she went for a run “for the fun of it” afterwards.
Meanwhile, she is currently in the middle of Strictly Come Dancing 2019, after being partnered up with Dev Griffin.
Strictly's Dianne Buswell is given 'two left feet' for jive
The pair found themselves just four places away from the top of the leaderboard, with a combined score of 57 for their first two dances.
Toping the table was Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden on 63 points, followed by Michelle Visage and Giovanni Pernice.
This week Dianne and DJ Dev, 34, will be doing the Couples’ Choice routine to Friend Like Me by Will Smith from Aladdin.
Read more of Happiful’s interview with Dianne Buswell on sale in stores and online at https://shop.happiful.com/ now.
Strictly Come Dancing 2019 continues tonight at 7.10pm on BBC One.