Louise Minchin says she's 'banned' from ever appearing on Strictly Come Dancing

Louise Minchin has ruled out ever appearing on Strictly Come Dancing – claiming she's been "banned". The 56-year-old quit BBC Breakfast in 2021 after spent almost two decades on the early morning show.

She has gone on to appear in I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! at Gwrych Castle in Wales as well as Time Crashers, Celebrity Masterchef and Celebrity Gladiatiors. She has even penned her own novel and trekked 100 miles across the Namib Desert for Sport Relief.

But Strictly is apparently one step too far for the presenter. That is because she said her children have barred her from going for the famous glitterball trophy. Speaking to The Telegraph, she said: “They know I'm a terrible dancer so the possibility of being hugely embarrassing is massive. I'm banned for being embarrassing.”

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Louise says her time on I’m a Celeb had the most profound impact on her career. The journalist’s new novel, Isolation Island, centres around a fictional reality TV show. She wrote the book after an encounter with Jeffrey Archer 25 years ago. At the start of her career, she explained she was late to interview the politician when he was standing to be mayor of London.

She said: "He was a massive bestselling novelist/thriller writer, I was a big fan, a young journalist, really in awe and a bit scared. He just looked at me and said, 'Who do you think you are? If I was mayor of London do you think I would wait for you?' I thought, you're one of my big heroes and you've just made me feel so small."

Inspired by her own time on I’m A Celeb, where the brutal Welsh winter saw storms cause havoc with the production crew, Louise decided to “write about what you know”. Isolation Island focuses around a reporter, Lauren, who is promised a prime time TV show for competing in a show led by malevolent and capricious producers.