Will Daisy Lowe’s Strictly Come Dancing stint ruin the model’s new romance?
British beauty opens up over fellas, first-dance fears and why the 'Curse of Strictly' won't put the see her relationship fall flat
STUNNING Daisy Lowe vowed not to fall victim to the Strictly curse as she spoke for the first time about her new romance.
She is dating male model and actor Bradley “Frankie” Wade and insisted she won’t be swapping him for Slovenian hunk Aljaz Skorjanec, her dance partner on the BBC show, despite growing close to him in rehearsals.
Of her budding romance with Frankie, model Daisy told The Sun on Sunday: “Frankie and I have been dating for just over a month, and it’s going well. He’s fit, really fit from the inside out.
“I made a sneaky video of him the other day making me pancakes at home while topless, and it’s hard to imagine that getting much better.
“I posted the video on Snapchat with a big pink heart around it, though he’ll kill me for saying that.
“Of course I’ve been asked about the Strictly curse, but there’s no chance.”
Daisy, 27, like Frankie, heaps praise on Aljaz, 26, but has eyes only for her new fella — and points out Aljaz is madly in love with his fiancée, fellow Strictly dancer Janette Manrara, 32.
Daisy said: “I love Aljaz with all my heart, even after a month, because he is the most gorgeous, warm, kind-hearted human being.
“But it’s totally platonic.
“He is like my brother. And he and Janette are so in love, they are gorgeous and engaged, and we all have so much fun together.
“Frankie loves Aljaz and he is really supportive, which is lovely.
“Whenever the curse is mentioned, I’m so happy I met him before we started.”
Frankie has been supporting Daisy between dance rehearsals, when the couple have been spotted kissing and holding hands.
And Daisy said she needed all the support she could get.
But she admitted that after years of modelling — and posing nude for Playboy — the one thing that did not faze her were her barely-there outfits.
She said: “After modelling for 12 years, I’m used to being someone else’s vision.
“The wardrobe team were like, ‘Great, you’re our doll.’
“Obviously everyone has hang-ups and body issues, and I did ask them to avoid orange or yellow, and anything high-necked and sleeveless.
“But I guess when you have posed naked, the revealing costumes aren’t quite so scary.
“When I have posed naked, it has been a celebration of femininity, and Strictly is a celebration of femininity too but in a very different way.
“It’s also not on a closed set but in front of 12million people. I’m trying not to think about that.”
Daisy went on: “Dancing is such a beautiful skill to learn that I couldn’t say no when I was asked.
“But the reality of people watching me dance is a whole other thing, and I pretty much ignored that until the night of the launch.”
She admitted being “a nervous wreck” on launch night three weeks ago, adding: “I was having a right panic. Having Aljaz has eased the pressure since then, because he is so calm and patient.
“But you do go through so many stages of panic, sheer terror and bone-shaking fear.
“I’d love to stay as long as humanly possible, so I’m going to cling on for dear life, but there are so many incredible people in this year’s cast.
“It really feels like a family.
“We’ve got a WhatsApp group and everyone’s like, ‘I feel sick, I’m tired, this happened, I’m crying at rehearsals.’
“But when things go better, they all message, ‘We love you’ and send sweaty selfies.”
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Daisy recently revealed how she was reduced to tears by her fear that she wouldn’t do her late grandfather proud — having dedicated last night’s first ballroom dance to him.
Eddie Davis, nicknamed Fast Eddie, died aged 82 on the first day of rehearsals.
And Daisy said: “The dance was a tribute to my grandfather, and when we were learning the steps last week the pressure really got to me.
“It suddenly felt so real but it was like my body wasn’t listening to my brain and I started panicking that I wouldn’t be able to do Gramps proud.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to do something special enough for him, and he was the most special man in my life, so I had to leave the room. I was like, ‘I can’t do this’ and I was really angry at myself for getting things wrong.
“I realise now that it doesn’t matter how many times you get it wrong, as long as you get up and try again. It’s supposed to be tough.
“I knew I would probably cry on the night but I hoped I could hold it together for my Gramps.
“He had been battling cancer for two years, and the chemotherapy was so tough on his system — he became very depressed and very lethargic. But a week before he died, I went to his for tea and he was really chirpy — I hadn’t seen him like that since before he was ill.
“He said to me, ‘You know Daisy, Strictly has really lifted me.’
“So the fact I could give that to him before he passed away was really lovely.
“Hopefully when I danced, he was watching.”
Daisy is now rehearsing her second routine, which she will perform for the first time for the public vote.
But while she is undergoing gruelling rehearsals in the studio, she is not taking her work home.
She said: “I get confused without Aljaz and outside of the rehearsal space. Plus, my house is all higgledy-piggledy, so I’d fall over things.
“We are working hard but I think it’s really important I have one dinner with my friends a week.
“And then Sundays have to be my own. So I’ve said to all my mates and Frankie that on Sundays I’m going to be lying on my sofa.
“If people want to cook for me or get takeaways, they can.
“If they want to bring over DVDs, make me laugh and give me foot rubs then that’s fine.
“Otherwise I’ll be on my own in my trackies, giving myself foot rubs with a big pile of Domino’s.”