Call the Midwife icon recalls ‘uncomfortable’ | UK News

Call the Midwife favorite Helen George has lifted the lid on what it was actually like competing on Strictly Come Dancing as she prepares to return to actuality TV. The 41-year-old competed on the BBC ballroom show back in 2015 where she was teamed up with Aljaž Škorjanec and completed in sixth place.

Ten years on, the blonde bombshell is set to embark on one other terrifying actuality show, this time swapping out the notorious BBC ballroom for shark-infested waters. In an interview with Radio Times, the mum-of-two has opened up about how she feels returning to actuality TV after so a few years away. She informed the outlet: “I’m an actress and I play other people’s vulnerabilities.

“So playing my own is always terrifying. I’m ugly crying, there’s no hair and makeup… it’s not glamorous. Now I’m thinking, ‘What have I done? I haven’t been ‘myself’ on screen since I did Strictly [in 2015], and that was uncomfortable for me.”

Months before she took half on the stay show, the Trixie star famously separated from her then husband. At the time, she informed retailers that she hoped competing on the show would act like “therapy” to help her get through her divorce.

She stated at the time: “Going through a divorce is terrible. I’d been requested to do Strictly and, unusual as it sounds, I believed it will be like a type of therapy after my divorce. I’d spoken to fairly a few people who stated it actually helped them through troublesome instances.

“You are focused on this one thing, its an emotional journey. I was so naive that I thought no one would be interested in me, so that was a shock. I soon realised I didn’t want all that celebrity stuff.”

This year, the blonde bombshell will join Lucy Punch, Sir Lenny Henry, Ross Noble, Rachel Riley, Ade Adepitan, and Dougie Poynter as they get up close and personal with bull sharks in a diving cage.

But that’s not all – they will be interacting with hammerheads, stingrays, and more on the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, which is home to seven to ten different shark species.

The aim of the show is to undo the damage Jaws did to millions of viewers across the globe by demonising the sharp-toothed creatures as the film celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

As the breeds get larger and more dangerous over five episodes, they build themselves up to the ultimate challenge: diving with tiger sharks. Ahead of the upcoming show, she shared her hopes going into the nail-biting challenge.

She told Radio Times: “I needed to get more assured for them. They had been impressed I even went in the first place, because they did not assume I’d. I used to be actually terrified of the water, so I is likely to be a bit embarrassed about some of the scenes!”