Kym Marsh revealed that she experienced moments during the Strictly Come Dancing competition in which her anxiousness “reared its head.”
The former heroine of Coronation Street, who was had to miss a week of filming for the BBC One drama owing to Covid-19, sang the American Smooth as a memorial to her son Archie, who was born prematurely and passed away in 2009. Archie died in 2009.
She is “proud” of how she discovered her boundaries during rehearsals as well as during the live shows as she developed a new skill and began giving herself “more credit.” She is “proud” of how she learned her limits.
She told February’s issue of Prima UK magazine: ‘I learned new skills, new things about myself, lost a fair bit of weight and met some amazing people.
‘I never saw myself as someone who was up there with the best dancers, but the whole experience taught me to give myself more credit. I’m proud of what I achieved.’
The 46-year-old star has ‘always’ been candid about her experiences with anxiety, and during her Strictly spell it ‘threatened to take hold’.
She added: ‘I’ve always been open about my struggles with anxiety, and there were times on set where it reared its head and threatened to take hold.
‘I was nervous, but I discovered I could beat it and take control. That’s the lesson I’ll cherish most. I’ve realised how far I’m able to push myself and overcome things that I might think I’m too weak to do.’
Kym was the 10th celebrity to leave Strictly after a closely-fought musicals week dance-off against CBBC star Molly Rainford.
After discovering her fate, she spoke of wanting to make her father, who has been receiving treatment in hospital following a prostate cancer diagnosis, happy.
Reflecting on what’s next following the show’s final, which saw Wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin and his professional partner Jowita Przystal lift the glitterball trophy, Kym said: ‘I want to keep working hard, setting a good example to my kids and spending lots of time with my grandchildren.
‘The past few years have been about setting my sights high and challenging myself – and I’m going to continue to do that. There’s no point in just sitting there and thinking, “Right, this is it”. I want to keep testing my limits and proving my capabilities.’
Read the full interview in Prima’s February issue, now on sale. It is available in all supermarkets and online at MagsDirect.
