I wanted to come up with a hybrid show of sorts that wasn't your traditional 'dump and stir' type of cooking show.

My husband is from Florence. And he has a 15th-century barn that is completely rustic and very 'Green Acres'-like.

Thanksgiving was always a favorite holiday for me. The preparation was fun! My grandma and I would walk to the butcher on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, order the bird, and buy all the fixings at the market.

On the morning of Thanksgiving, I would wake up to the home smelling of all good things, wafting upstairs to my room. I would set the table with the fancy silverware and china and hope that my parents and grandmother wouldn't have the annual Thanksgiving fight about Richard Nixon.

I have a very high metabolism, and I have to constantly eat to keep on going.

I'm a girl who's curvy, and I'm Latvian, but I don't have hips, and I have a tiny waist.

To me, it's a religious experience to sit down at anyone's table. I feel so invited, like it's a sacred place.

I can't live without carbs.

I'm naturally a muscular gal with some curves, so eating a Mediterranean diet makes my body happy.

I have a full Tuscan lunch and dinner every day in my home; my husband's a fantastic chef.

Lunch is formal - that's when my husband and I have our dates. And dinner is formal: we sit down every day with the kids at seven o' clock.

I like to have my hair grow, because I need to have hair for different roles. But I'm a woman, so I'm always cutting my hair off and wishing that I hadn't.

I used to live above Manganaro's, when old Times Square was still peaking, and it still had a lot of diners and theaters on the forty deuce, as they used to call it. It was full of character. And it wasn't Disneyland. Now it's so touristy and full of bright lights, I can't stand it. It's like going to a big mall.

My mom did not have money. She was a single mom, on and off in periods between marriages. My husband, however, grew up on a wonderful farm in Tuscany, in Florence, and his family was so entertaining in terms of growing their own food and using the fruit of their land. We have very, very different experiences.

We sit down with the kids every single night, not that I want to every night - sometimes I'd rather be out with my husband having a martini at a swanky restaurant - but we sit down with our kids every night at dinner.

Food brings back memories. I had a mom that wasn't a good cook, so I would eat my grandma's food. It was amazing because it brings back a time almost in Technicolor. I see her house, I see her stove; I think about what it felt like when I was sick, and it felt like love.

I'm teaching my daughters to be ladies by showing them how to dress appropriately when they leave the house, and how to be thoughtful and polite.

I've always been a foodie. My grandmother got me hooked on cooking.

When you come into our house, you get a flavor for our life, our travels, our kids, our 18-year-old poodle who is like, blind, deaf and incontinent but so happy.

I'd love to give my girls a traditional Thanksgiving with turkey and all that jazz, but we've raised them to love Tuscan food so much that they don't care for it. My favorite is a nice polenta with beef stew and broccoli rabe on the side.

My husband, Gabriele, is a musician, and I love music, so you can bet it's a really important part of our home entertaining repertoire, even if it means Gabriele making a really good playlist for a dinner party.

In Italy, everybody buys silver for every special occasion. Baptisms, weddings, you get silver.

I have lots of shoes, but I have to be comfortable. Lately, I've stolen my husband's big, ugly Uggs to wear around the kitchen. I want to have them on, then slide into a fabulous heel later. Truth is, I often forget the heel.

I'm quite a restless holidaymaker - I can't lie down on the sand and don't like too much heat.

You need emotional intelligence; to be happy to take risks; to be competitive and to look forward not backwards.

I'm very direct, I don't believe in wasting time, in wasting words.

Loving something doesn't make it a good investment.

People have to understand that they're not good at everything.

I am a very loyal person and believe that people should be treated fairly in life.

Much as I'm loving the 'Strictly' experience, I'm sure I'll always be better known for my business career and my appearances on 'Dragons' Den' than I will for my cha-cha-cha or Viennese waltz.

I suffer from reverse body dysmorphia. When I look in the mirror I see somebody slimmer. It's quite a shock to see myself on TV, especially on widescreen.

When I sold Weststar Holidays, the idea was to take stock and stop and then decide in life - we were going to travel around the world or whatever we were going to do. After about two weeks my husband said to me, 'Oh for goodness sake Deborah, get yourself a business because this is driving me bonkers.'

You need to tell people where they stand. If someone's done a good job, you should tell them they've done damn well. But if they haven't, you should take the same attitude.

You don't have to start with your dream job, and your idea of what the dream job might be will change during a working life that will have its share of ups and downs, setbacks and advances.

Playing the piano was what I loved doing for myself, but as soon as it became a 'thing' that I was being pushed to pursue by my teachers, I rebelled.

Feminism doesn't have a particularly constructive image, although I think there was time when it was relevant.

It is what you can do with your money that matters because money has no value in itself.

Dragons' Den' is about as close to real business as you can get on television.

I'm not a feminist.

I think the thing about business is that it's not completely separate to life. You're selling to people so it's all about life skills - and common sense.

I am not intimidating, I am forthright!

I'm not scared of many sectors, so if you look at my investment portfolio, it is pretty wide. I've invested in anything from market research firms to fashion houses and textile companies.

As a young woman, before I had any money, I went backpacking across India, and I was aware of how gritty it could be.

Nobody is like the person I am on TV, surely, only Cruella de Vil, or the wicked witch from Snow White.

I love the ingenuity of British entrepreneurs.

If you're looking for investment you've got to think about what the investor gets from being involved with your business. A lot of people think about what they're getting from their point of view but not about what the investor gets out of a deal.

I have definitely learnt in business that when you have a smart, engaged entrepreneur with good judgement they can really drive even a mediocre business forward so to me the entrepreneur is very important.

I started off in the leisure industry and now I find myself as the DIY queen - I'm not quite sure how that happened!

I think I've got more humour than comes across.

When I concentrate, my face is deadpan and I can see there is a coldness there - when I'm making business decisions I know I can be quite dispassionate.