Lesley Joseph Is A Strictly Come Dancing Inspiration

Birds of a Feather star Lesley Joseph is the oldest ever female celebrity to grace the dancefloor on Strictly – but the 70-year-old star reckons she could turn out to be the dark horse of this year’s contest.

“I can move and have good rhythm,” Lesley told The Sunday People. “And I’m really flexible. Hopefully we’ll put in some good work. I’m a mixture of excited and nervous.

Of course, the actress became famous for playing maneating cougar Dorien Green in the hit BBC sitcom, but this time she’s hoping to be an inspiration to older women for a much more wholesome reason.

“I’m the oldest woman ever – but you know what? I’m hopefully an inspiration, as I am fit.”

At 66-1, the bookies clearly aren’t altogether convinced that the veteran actress has what it takes to go all the way. But being paired with Anton Du Beke, one of the show’s more experienced dancers, should give her a head-start.

Not that Dorien would be best pleased at being hooked up with 50-year-old Anton.

“Would I have liked a younger guy? Well, that’s a one-trick pony, that’s Dorien. I want there to be more to it than that. And Anton is younger than me – let’s face it, everyone is younger than me,” she joked.

Lesley’s Birds of a Feather co-star Linda Robson reckons she could cause an upset, too. “If people haven’t seen her in the theatre they may not realise what a good dancer she is,” she explained.

“I’m going to have a £50 bet on her to get to Blackpool – I’ll be going down every week to support her.”

At those 66-1 odds, Lesley’s got to be worth a punt.