By Eleanor Davies
For six years she was a ‘professional’ on one of the biggest television shows our Saturday nights have ever seen, each week taking to the dance floor in Strictly Come Dancing.
But then in a decision which shocked the show’s loyal fans, Camilla Dallerup (now Camilla Sacre-Dallerup) decided to hang up her dancing shoes and leave the show which had made her a household name.
“Strictly was a whirlwind, I was on it for six years and each series seemed to role into the next because it consumes your life,” she tells me.
“It was very exciting and I learned a lot about how TV works and was proud to be a part of such a huge show, but I had that gut feeling, when you know its time to go and I had nothing more to give,” she says honestly.
“I had been on the show for six years and I think like any job after a few years you want to grow and do something different.”
Yet she wasn’t ready to go out without a bang! After reaching the semi-finals twice with Ray Fearon and Gethin Jones she was determined to make it all the way to the finals with dance partner Tom Chambers.
And in spectacular style they saw off competition from the favourites that year, Vincent Simone and Rachael Stevens, with their fantastic comedic show dance to be crowned the winners of Strictly Come Dancing 2008, something Camilla couldn’t quite believe!
“I couldn’t have wished for a better end to my time on the show,” says the 36-year-old newlywed. “I mean I knew I was going to leave anyway so to win was really the best leaving present.”
Having left the show Camilla wanted to try new things and take herself out of her comfort zone, and nothing could have been further from the glitz and glamour of strictly than the jungle of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!
“I loved the experience of I’m a Celebrity, it was completely different to anything else I had done before,” she smiles.
However after just three days the lack of food made Camilla extremely unwell and she was forced to quit the show.
“I didn’t want to leave, but because I’m an athlete I eat a lot and have a high metabolism so the lack of food just drained me and the doctor sent me home, I would have liked to have stayed longer.”
Camilla was soon back to doing what she does best and in January this year joined the GMTV team as a Get Fit Presenter, recruiting 100,000 people around the UK to their new get fit website.
And after experiencing heartbreak after her split from strictly partner Brendon Cole, Camilla has found love in the form of Hollyoaks actor, Kevin Sacre, tying the knot in July this year at a small ceremony on the Balearic Island Ibiza.
“Married life is good,” she laughs. “We have just got back from our honeymoon in the Maldives, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet - I’m not quite back to reality!”
Now, going by the name Camilla Sacre-Dallerup, she will be waltzing her way to Essex with former Strictly contestant and Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, for Saint Francis Hospice’s Forget Me Not Ball on Saturday 18 September.
“We will be doing the waltz and tango/paso and some crowd participation which is always so much fun. I love it when the crowd get involved!” she says, excitedly. “Its going to be lots of smiling and dancing and it’s for a good cause, I think it’s important for charities that people come to these events and support them.”
So, whether you’re a novice or want to show off your fancy footwork, Camilla is looking forward to putting everyone through their paces, after all she managed to take novice Tom Chambers to the finals and ultimately win Strictly Come Dancing!
“It’s definitely a challenge teaching someone to dance, but I loved it, it was fun meeting people who sometimes didn’t even know the 123 step but you have to make them look like they are in charge!”
For tickets to Saint Francis Hospice’s Forget Me Not Ball at Orsett Hall on 18 September, call: 01708 723593. For more details, visit www.sfh.org.uk