Dame Darcey Bussell finally breaks her silence on why she waltzed away from Strictly Come Dancing

Mystery has shrouded Dame Darcey Bussell’s departure from Strictly Come Dancing since she shocked the show business world when she quit as a judge in 2019.

Now, however, the former Royal Ballet star has finally revealed the real reason she walked away from the BBC’s biggest entertainment show.

Dame Darcey, 53, says bosses hired her for her dancing expertise but then decided they wanted her to downgrade her personality.

“It was really difficult because the producers of the show didn’t want me to be the ballet dancer and I was like, ‘Well, unfortunately I am, and I think you chose me because I’m the ballet dancer,” she told the Royal Academy of Dance podcast.

“They were convinced that the public was going to take it into account. But the public embraced it and [nevertheless] were happy to have me as a judge.

Dame Darcey, who has two children with her husband, Australian businessman Angus Forbes, was a strict judge for seven years.

Speak out: Now, however, the former Royal Ballet star has finally revealed the real reason she walked away from the BBC’s biggest entertainment show

In the end, she refused to comply with the wishes of the producers.

“I was always going to play myself, even though I was convinced that looking and being like the ballet dancer was the wrong thing,” she said.

‘I was, like, ‘Well, sorry, you take me like that. This is what I look like and this is how I will act.”

Formerly: Dame Darcey in The Prince of the Pagodas by the Royal Ballet

The former Covent Garden principal dancer admits she wasn’t exactly suited for Strictly.

“It wasn’t the easiest thing for me, because I always wanted to be the dancer on that dance floor,” she said.

“Being a full-time judge was tough knowing it was live and having the ability to be quick and responsive because I like to think things through and take my time.”