Strictly Come Dancing professional Dianne Buswell has opened up about the emotional significance of her iconic red hair, revealing it stems from her battle with an eating disorder. The Australian dancer, who won the 2024 series with comedian Chris McCausland, spoke candidly on This Morning about her past struggles.
Buswell, 35, disclosed that her fixation on food and excessive exercise began at a young age, exacerbated by weekly weigh-ins at her dance company. She said: 'You wake up in the morning, and the first thing you think of is, what am I going to eat? How many calories are going to be in that? How much do I need to exercise to burn off those calories?'
The dancer, who trained as a hairdresser before pursuing dance professionally, has previously spoken about achieving both her dreams. She told Michael McIntyre's The Wheel in 2022: 'I had two dreams, dancing and becoming a hairdresser – I'm thrilled to have achieved both.'
Buswell's Strictly journey began in 2017 with Reverend Richard Coles, and she reached the final in 2018 with Joe Sugg. After several early exits, she made it to the final again in 2023 with Bobby Brazier, before finally winning the Glitterball Trophy with McCausland in 2024.
Reflecting on her partnership with Brazier, Buswell posted on Instagram: 'I used to be so obsessed with winning a sparkly trophy constantly thinking about that moment and what it would feel like. But what I have realised [is] dancing with this wonderful human is that the win and the sparkle is everywhere if you want it to be.'
