Strictly Come Dancing's Natalie Gumede denies unfair advantage
STRICTLY Come Dancing contestant Natalie Gumede has played down reports that she is already a talented dancer.
The actress, who played abusive Kirsty Soames on Coronation Street, will be taking to our screens when Strictly starts up again tonight on BBC1, and is already the favourite to take home the mirrorball trophy.
But she has attracted criticism from people who believe that her previous dancing experience gives her an unfair advantage in the competition.
Speaking at the premiere of the hit show, Gumede admitted that she has trained as a dancer before.
"I'm an actress who went to stage school, so yes, I've danced. I danced as a child," she confessed.
However, the soap star doesn't think that she has an edge over her fellow contestants.
"I haven't done ballroom and I've never danced professionally. I've got a lot to learn in a different way," Gumede insisted. "Ballroom is very different to things like ballet and modern dance. We're all coming from different places and anything else is up to the audience to decide."
This isn't the first time that a Strictly contestant has been accused of having an unfair advantage. When judge Alesha Dixon won the show, she was most famous for her dancing in music videos with band Mis-Teeq.
And last year, Denise Van Outen joined the show despite dancing at a professional level for her role in the West End and Broadway show Chicago.
Natalie joins a host of celebrities, including Vanessa Feltz, Abbey Crouch and Rachel Riley, who will be finding out who they will be partnered with tonight.