Charlotte Hawkins: I may show a little leg on Strictly to distract from my dancing

The contestants in Strictly, who include Mollie King, Simon Rimmer, Chizzy Akudolu, Jonnie Peacock, Ruth Langsford, Joe McFadden, Debbie McGee, Brian Conley, Alexandra Burke, Rev Richard Coles, Charlotte Hawkins, Aston Merrygold, Gemma Atkinson, Susan Calman, Davood Ghadami Picture: BBC / Ray Burmiston

Hawkins - who is among the 15 celebrities taking to the dance floor tonight for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing - said that despite having had modern and ballet training in her youth, she has realised she is not as skilled as she thought.

The 42-year-old newsreader, who was born in Chichester, told The Sun newspaper: ‘The worse my dancing gets, the more leg I’ll have to show to distract everybody.

‘I’m probably going to shock myself. I suspect a lot of people will be shocked too.

Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins

‘But you have to throw yourself into it. I can’t go on that stage as Charlotte the newsreader or Charlotte the mum. I have to pretend to be Charlotte Hawkins the dancer.

‘I have to step into character. I have to step out of my comfort zone.’

Hawkins, who is partnered with professional dancer Brendan Cole, said she is fully prepared to sport some revealing outfits while on the BBC One programme, although her Good Morning Britain co-stars Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan have started ‘teasing’ her over them.

‘I don’t want to be the only one saying, “I’d like my skirt to be down to my ankle and my tops up to my chin”.’” she said.

‘I’ve been told you often start off saying, “I’ll just have the dresses down to the knee”. Then the next week it’s up to the thigh and the next week it’s, “Oh, maybe we’ll just go a bit shorter still”.’

Referring to her previous experience, she said: ‘I like to think I can dance a little, but starting the process has made me realise I’m probably not quite as good as I would hope. It doesn’t count for anything.’

Hawkins, who has been married to husband Mark Herbert since 2008, said she has no concerns about the so-called Strictly ‘Curse’, although said it is ‘weird’ to be dancing so intimately with another man.

‘I knew it was going to be intimate and it’s even more so,’ she said.

‘It’s the closest I’ve been to any man apart from my husband for years.’

Hawkins will take to the Strictly dance floor in tonight’s first live show of the series at 6.25pm on BBC One.