Loose Women star breaks silence on co-star ‘joining Strictly Come Dancing line-up'

Edinburgh Live

a day ago

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Loose Women star Katie Piper has addressed the news of former fellow panellist Stacey Solomon reportedly joining this year's line-up for Strictly Come Dancing.
While the pro dancers for the new series have been confirmed, the BBC hasn't yet announced which celebrities are taking part, though Stacey's name is rumoured alongside the likes of Dani Dyer, Tom Parker Bowles, Paul C Brunson and Sir Mo Farah.
X Factor star Stacey, 35, hasn't yet addressed the speculation, but she's now been given some words of wisdom from a fellow Loose Women star.
In an exclusive interview, Katie - who appeared on Strictly in 2018 and was partnered with Gorka Marquez before becoming the third celebrity to leave the competition - recalled her time on the programme, saying it was 'hard' to start training just months after she gave birth to her second child.
However she shared her love for her time on the show and, admitting she's only met Stacey once and doesn't know her as well as other Loose Women panellists, shared some words of wisdom, encouraging the future Strictly stars to 'enjoy it'.
'When are you ever going to get the chance ever again to dance with a professional dancer, in front of all those people? Strictly goes all out with the wigs, the makeup, all the costumes.'
(Image: BBC)
She went on: 'So it's quite a unique opportunity to have and to wear all the stuff and seeing pictures and footage of yourself professionally dancing, if that's not your chosen career, it's quite an incredible world to dip into."
Despite having starred on the BBC competition, mum-of-two Katie now struggles to find ways to fit watching the show into her weekly schedule, among family life and other TV work including her ITV breakfast programme.
'I have a breakfast show on ITV and it starts at 8.25am so I'm not really this big Saturday night person,' she admitted. 'I work so much that I try and be with the kids on the weekends, I'll take them to swimming and then we'll go out and get some lunch.
'And then really in the evenings, I have to say, it's like proper mum mode where I'm tidying up, my eldest goes to bed at half eight or nine and I usually go up to bed because then I'm up early.'
(Image: BBC/Guy Levy)
As her children are growing up, Katie is focusing on having the family reconnect away from busy schedules and social media, and has now teamed up with easyJet on a campaign to do so.
The airline has launched its 'Airplane Mode' campaign to help families like Katie's spend quality time together, away from personal devices and hectic day-to-day lives.
As part of the initiative, the airline has introduced a family card game involving conversation-sparking questions and prompts to share advice and meaningful experiences with each other, that will be handed out for free for families jetting off on holiday, available at airports across the UK from today (while stocks last).
'It's a brilliant initiative and it's so overdue,' Katie told us. 'We all understand the social media dangers for children, and I don't actually think it's all about putting the blame on kids. I think I speak for myself as a mum, we're guilty of always being on our phones and our children wanting to connect with us, and they can't.'
(Image: Katie Piper Instagram)
Like many other parents across the nation, Katie's fears were amplified by the Netflix series Adolescence, which, alongside the campaign, left her worrying that there's so much out there she doesn't know and that just talking to children may not be enough.
'You can't just be checking notifications and emails whilst you're trying to get them to confide in you, and you can't just accept them saying 'Oh no, I'm fine' when they get in from school and put their bag down.
'It was one of the most important pieces of television I'd seen in a while, and I got speaking to easyJet quite soon after that about this initiative.'
She added: 'This is something I feel so passionate about, even if I wasn't doing this campaign.'
The easyJet Airplane Mode card game will be available to customers at UK airports including London Gatwick, London Luton, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast this summer (while stocks last). Listen to the reflections series of voice-notes from Katie Piper, Jaycie Fry, Will Ainslie and easyJet pilots and cabin crew via SoundCloud .
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer later this year.