Strictly's Claudia Winkleman told not to 'be a turd' by her parents

Claudia Winkleman's mum and dad Eve Pollard and Barry Winkleman instilled a strong work ethic in her when she was a child.

Now the co-host of Strictly Come Dancing alongside Tess Daly, as well as presenting whodunnit reality show The Traitors, Winkleman opened up about the advice she's received over the years while stopping by the Edinburgh TV Festival this week.

"My parents told me basically, 'You just have to work incredibly hard and don't be a turd'", she said.

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"And one of my old producers on Strictly: It Takes Two used to say two things in my earpiece before we started filming – 'Don't be s***. It's only telly'. And I always try."

Further along, the TV star also dismissed suggestions that she's one of the industry's hardest-working figures, joking: "All I do is paint myself orange and read from an autocue..."

The subject of replacing the late, great Bruce Forsyth on Strictly in 2014 also cropped up during her talk.

"The biggest show on telly at that point was [The Great British] Bake Off which was hosted by two women [Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc]. So I was like, I'm not even pulling on that string. But I did feel incredibly nervous at the time," Winkleman confessed.

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"Strictly is run by women, Our boss is a woman, it's directed by a woman, my producer is a woman. Our leader is pregnant and we had a meeting the other day about the cast — but all we could talk about was baby names."

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One on 16 September.

Watch: Claudia Winkleman told The Traitors bosses to end the show after the first season