I love my sporty but classic brown leather Picard satchel.

I've got an iPod, of course. I'm all Mac'd up!

Yes I've had my nose done.

Villains are far more interesting to play than nice people.

I like working with directors I respect, who give me freedom but also give me a good base from which to work.

When you take on an acting or dancing role, you have to trust your director, and in some ways there is freedom in relinquishing control.

How many dancers in their life get a job that will last 15 years? Not many.

X Factor' creates a Christmas single that puts money in other people's pockets. Whereas 'Strictly''s not out to do that, at all. That's why I stand up for it - it isn't car-crash television.

I don't want a splashy magazine wedding with celebrities.

You are under great scrutiny when you are adopting, more so than natural parents. There are a lot of interviews, screenings etc.

Sports men and women need hip replacements. It was all those years of classical ballet and forcing turn-outs. It can be quite detrimental to your body.

I like telling people the truth.

I did not expect to become a celebrity or be known by the public at all.

I chose when I was 30 to change my life entirely and become a director and sit in the dark and that's what I love doing.

It's important to me that people don't go spouting off about anything in your life.

If I was to pretend my father didn't exist and I didn't have anything to remember him by, then it wouldn't be healthy.

The X Factor' - I watch it because I'm always searching for talent to use in my musicals, so they do all the groundwork for me.

I once called EastEnders' Patsy Palmer 'a scrubber in a Puffa jacket who cries all the time' on 'Strictly.' She said I wasn't actually a dancer. That wasn't my finest moment.

I've battled food issues since my late teens.

I was quite chubby, so when I started dancing professionally I had to work hard to stay slim.

I was short and fat as a child.

I was bullied mercilessly through school for my weight problem.

The problem is most people in the world can't take criticism.

Strictly' has evolved - there are such beautiful stories within each dance. We're not doing a ballroom and Latin competition, it's an entertainment show.

The colour of someone's skin doesn't explain anything.

I've learnt not to expect a lot from supermodels - we've had them on 'Strictly' before and they've been horrendous.

I like stuff like Joy Division and Verdi, and then some naff stuff.

Freddie Mercury made a lot of sense to me even though I didn't understand the lyrics.

Friendly Fires were dull, and I wouldn't really sit down and listen to Hot Chip.

Strictly' is Saturday night fun. The pay's not amazing.

Celebrity is worthless and useless, it takes away your privacy.

I'm on Grindr, Scruff, Match.com. That's the way everyone meets these days, three of my friends have got married after meeting on Grindr.

The Thorn Birds' by Colleen McCullough. I took it on a holiday to Greece and just fell in love with it.

I believe in civil partnerships as it protects each partner. Whether I believe in marriage is a different thing.

My wife Jane left me for another man. Then I fell in love with a bloke. I have been gay ever since.

I was bisexual for a long time. I flitted between men and women quite a lot between the ages of 17 and 26.

I met Prince Harry at Westminster and I want him to be my new boyfriend, but unfortunately I don't think it is going to happen.

Sometimes people need to think of themselves as lions or tigers. Even panthers.

With 'The X Factor' I think the audiences have lost faith and trust in it so that's its problem. You want to be watching something real and dynamic and something you can trust and believe in.

People tend to think when you're at the top, you need bashing down. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Ricky Whittle is fabulous.

For personality, you're not going to get better than Ricky Groves. He really goes for it.

I play the Wicked Queen in 'Snow White.' I'm not typecast. It's terrible. I should be Prince Charming.

Don't get me wrong, I really like being a judge on 'Strictly.' But my first love and passion is directing and choreography and I will be doing that until the day I die.

I grew up with 'Chess' and the music from the show.

I'm a lovely person, considerate and loving.

All my ex-boyfriends, bar one, are my best friends.

What would people be surprised to know about me? That I love cooking and chopping wood for the heating system in my house.

Discovering that my great-great-grandfather Harry was Australasian clog-dancing champion in 1871 was extraordinary.

I danced with Courtney Act, which was absolutely fantastic.