I didn't worry too much about staying in shape once I'd stopped dancing. You get to the point where you just burn out and have to give your body a chance to heal.

I know some people aspire to a ballerina's body, but I looked forward to feeling more feminine.

If I start something, I have to finish it. I know that's annoying - it drives my husband mad - but even if something's not going my way, I have to see it through.

I've got that personality where I've always been determined. As a dancer, I was constantly improving and perfecting. I guess it's innate.

I love chocolate, but it's bad.

Keeping off wheat helps my energy levels.

It is entertainment; we mustn't forget that. Dance is entertainment. You can have the best technicians in the world, but they'll be boring to watch. It has to be about entertainment as well, but it's quality, grace.

Over the years, I've had two ankle operations, torn my hamstring, had my hip resurfaced, and snapped the anterior cruciate ligament in my knee.

I've achieved everything I've wanted to achieve, so I'm not scared of failure. I never gave up, however bad the injuries got.

Even after having children, after five months I was dancing again, which was kind of crazy.

My mum sent me to ballet from the age of five, not because I was that into it but because I had really knock knees.

The Royal Academy of Dance is an institution that trains to a very high standard.

I don't see anything negative about dance. It is so good for you, mentally and physically, and so for me to promote it is the easiest thing to do.

One thing I've learned from 'Strictly' is timing and the craft of the talk.

Weirdly, I didn't even know that I said 'yah' all the time.

I wore myself out physically and mentally over my career, and I couldn't be there for my daughters in ways I should have been.

When I started on 'Strictly,' I was terrified. Live television seemed like the most daunting thing in the world.

Being a ballerina can be a very unnatural life, especially after you've had children.

Ballet is a healthy world despite what people might think. There's a perception that ballet dancers are skinny and unhealthy, but that's rubbish. You have to be strong, so eating regularly and healthily is essential.

You tend to regret the things you haven't done.

I was incredibly supple and did gymnastics as well. So half of my injuries are because I am over-supple and the joints could always go that little bit further. But I was happy to push, and I have no regrets. That is important to say.

Ever since I've given up dancing, every physiotherapist or Pilates teacher has said you have to keep moving. If I don't, I'll have a hundred times more injuries because you get weak areas on your body.

I've always been quite famous for my nose.

Everything is not beautiful at the ballet. It's tough.

I was pretty rubbish when I first started dancing. I didn't understand the discipline of working on one step over and over again. If you look at it from the outside, you'd think, 'Why would anybody want to do that?' But you just want to get it perfect. It is that constant inner striving that you fall in love with.

This perception that we can be stars without any work and just appear is rubbish.

I've come to realise that being on 'Strictly' is like being in another theatre company and performing a live production.

I worked very hard to be a diva. But it never worked.

There are always younger and better dancers fighting to get your place. You get worn down by the fight to try to stay at the top.

When I coach dancers, I always like to get on the dance floor with them or describe something by showing them.

I would love more children, but no. I'm very lucky to have had my two.

Since finishing my professional dancing career, I've been conscious of not letting myself go.

I am not a big vitamin-taker. I have vitamin C during the winter, but eating lots of fruit and veg does the trick.

I'm a size 8-10. I never weigh myself - I go on how tight my jeans are.

I need to have dark chocolate in the cupboard - Green & Black's is good, but any will do.

The orthopaedic surgeon said that if ever I had hip or groin pain, I should rest until the pain went. However, resting is not part of a dancer's life - so I just danced through the pain.

I had once been told my ability to read would only reach that of a ten-year-old, but I was determined to achieve more.

We only open a couple of presents on Christmas morning; we're all about the stockings - we even get them for the dogs!

On Boxing Day, we always go for a walk in our wellies with the dogs, no matter where we are.

When I had kids, I had to work out how to keep my stamina up. I learned the power of protein and eating a variety of foods.

If I'm dehydrated, my muscles feel almost squeaky.

Dancers are working their bodies just like a marathon runner would, and you have to eat to make it through a three-hour performance. Dancers put their bodies through incredible strain.

I danced so intensely, I learned the hard way that sometimes you can push your body too far.

Dancing has always been a passion for me, one that I will probably never be rid of.

I wanted to inspire every little girl who wants to be a dancer to fire their imagination about the joys of being on the stage.

When I started, there was a very strong image of what the ballerina was supposed to be in her tights and her costume, and then I started doing photo shoots in bomber boots, and it wasn't seen as the done thing.

I always knew I was a bit different from my friends, had too much energy, and suddenly I could get it all out with ballet.

I suppose you could say there is an in-built stubbornness to me.

I used to wear long jumpers, but they made me look like a bag tied up in the middle.

I love Australia; it's such an outdoor life.