Abbey Clancy might be one of the most beloved Strictly Come Dancing winners ever, but it seems not all her memories of the show are as cherished. 

The star has admitted she felt like she would have “rather died” when it came to performing each week, and “hated” doing the show’s arena tour. 

Appearing on Frazer T Smith’s 12 Questions podcast, Abbey and her husband Peter Crouch discussed the topic of overcoming fear. 

She said: “When I did Strictly, I loved practising in the rehearsal room, and then when I had to do the live show, I would have rather died, it was that severe.

“We did a live tour in all the big arenas and I hated it. I hated the crowd cheering me… It was such a bizarre feeling to me. It didn’t work for me.”

Recalling another TV appearance, Abbey continued: “I was on Jonathan Ross and I was sitting next to Stevie, sitting in silence and he said to me, ‘Why are you so scared?’ He could just feel the energy coming off me.”

She added: “As I’ve got older, the fear overtakes my ability to do things well.”

Abbey was a contestant on the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing, where she was paired up with Aljaž Škorjanec.

The pair went on to win the series, after beating breakfast presenter Susanna Reid and former Coronation Street star Natalie Gumede in the final. 

Abbey is not the only Strictly star to make an admission about their time on the show in recent weeks. 

Louise Redknapp admitted she regretted competing in the 2016 series, saying she would not have walked away from her marriage if she hadn’t taken part. 

Frazer T Smith’s 12 Questions podcast is available to stream now.