Arlene Phillips admits she's close to 'not being here' after turning 80

Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips has admitted she is close to "not being here" as she recently turned 80.

Appearing on Loose Women, Phillips confessed to becoming more concerned about mortality as she has aged.

She said: "Everybody talks about my age, and always has done, and I’ve just bounded on because it doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s how you feel inside.

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"I woke up on my 80th birthday virtually in shock. Because all I could think about was, 'Actually, 80 is getting close to not being here'."

Phillips added that she realised she had a "finite time" left on Earth and said: "And I’ve never thought about it before. I just felt like I was going to bound on forever."

She is also involved in Celebration Day, an event which brings people together to reflect on loved ones who have died and Phillips said she would be thinking of her former Strictly Come Dancing colleague Len Goodman who passed away last month.

Phillips — who is the same age as Goodman was when he died — paid tribute to the much loved broadcaster during an appearance on Lorraine where she said he was a man of "great strength".

She added that she was shocked when Goodman died: "It feels like it happened so fast because one minute there was Len, and then the next minute, you find out that he’s passed away."

Apart from her time as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, Phillips is best known as a professional choreographer and has worked on musicals such as We Will Rock You, Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

She has also chorographed dance sequences in movies and worked with the likes of Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood and the Monty Python troupe on Life of Brian. She reunited with the Pythons to choreograph their live shows in 2014.

Watch below: Dame Arlene Phillips: I feel I'm dreaming at Olivier Awards