Simply Alex Kingston

EXCLUSIVE: TV and film and stage actress Alex Kingston says she’s long hankered to take part in Strictly, but was held back by fears it would damage her theatre career

Alex Kingston says she’s wanted to do Strictly for as long as she can remember(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Ray Burmiston)

Alex Kingston has revealed she’s been desperate to appear on Strictly Come Dancing ever since her role alongside George Clooney in ER came to an end in 2004 – but was banned by her agent.

Now the actress, who played Dr Elizabeth Corday in the hit US medical drama, says she believes the “silly” snobbery around serious stage actors taking part in reality TV is finally breaking down.

And Alex, also known for her role as Doctor Who’s iconic recurring character River Song, was delighted when she finally got the go-ahead to sign up for the BBC ballroom show.

“It’s funny because I’ve been asked in the past and my agent always sort of said, ‘No, you can’t do it’, she explained. “Now I think it’s just that I’ve got to a certain stage in my life where he’s like, ‘If you want to do it, Alex…’ because I’ve been wanting to do it for 20 years.

“For a long time I think there’s been a sort of stigma around Strictly and popular television. And if you’re a theatre actor, theatre actors don’t participate – which is silly. And it’s not true. I think it’s changing now, I really do. I think people are more generous in terms of their opinions about Strictly.”

Asked why that might be, she mused: “Maybe because it’s been going for so long? Or that you’re seeing more actors just going, ‘sod it, I want to do it’. I mean I really don’t know!”

And she added that being a theatre star shouldn’t mean she only performs for a certain elite group of people. “Just because I do Shakespeare, Shakespeare wrote populist plays, you know?” she points out. “He didn’t write for a certain level of society. So it’s a way of connecting with your audience.”

Seeing her close pal and fellow actor Sarah Hadland take part last year – and reach the final – only made Alex want to do it more. “My friends have all said, ‘you’ve been banging on about it – thank God you’re finally doing it.’

But the Surrey-born star, who wed third husband Jonathan Stamp in 2015, says she did pause for thought at the last moment – especially when Sarah told her how demanding the whole experience could be. “I know that it’s going to be really challenging, and we’re all going to be pushed really to the edge, and beyond, of our comfort zone. But that’s what life’s for, isn’t it? Just jumping in, going for it. Doing things you’ll never regret.”

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