Ellie Taylor, the new host of Strictly Come Dancing spin-off It Takes Two, has revealed she was once offered £200 to strip off during a "wild" job early in her career.
The comedian, 42, was an intern at lads' magazine FHM while she was at university, where she also worked at The Times and Vogue. FHM, which used to have a decent print circulation, has been purely digital since 2016.
Risqué Offer During Internship
Speaking to the I paper, Ellie explained: "Absolutely wild times. They asked me if I would be in the magazine. I was the intern, and they asked if I would get my kit off for £200, which was a lot of money for me. Thank god I said no."
Ellie was the eighth celebrity eliminated in the 2022 series of Strictly, where she was coincidentally paired with Johannes Radebe, when he was one of the professional dancers. She was also in the running for the main presenting job, but missed out, along with the likes of Zoe Ball, Sara Cox, Rylan Clark and Angela Scanlon.
New Presenting Line-Up
Far from being bitter about missing out on one of the main Strictly presenter roles, Ellie admits she didn't expect to get the gig and is delighted to be hosting It Takes Two. She "realised it's beyond her" and is delighted to still be involved in Strictly in some capacity, as a huge fan of the show.
The new presenting line-up, which includes Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe, has come in for some criticism. While Emma has been positively received, Josh has been called "too jittery" while Johannes' lack of live TV presenting experience has been highlighted.
Speaking about the new line-up, she said: "People don't like change. I think they're great. There's such great energy in that room; they're all so pumped to be there. They'll settle into the roles even better than they already have."
Mum-of-two Ellie started doing stand-up comedy in her mid-20s. She has since appeared on popular television shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week and The Last Leg. Ellie has also tried her hand at acting, appearing in the hit sports comedy-drama Ted Lasso, alongside Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham and Nick Mohammed.
