Alan Carr has revealed that Strictly Come Dancing producers ask him to compete for the Glitterball trophy every year, but he would only accept on one condition.
Speaking to Strictly professional Vito Coppola on his Bottoms Up podcast, Carr said he regularly turns down requests from the show's producers. "They ask me every year to dance," he said, adding that if he ever did accept the offer, there would be one condition.
"I don't want a man, I want a woman," Carr stressed, explaining he would worry that dancing with one of Strictly's male professional dancers might leave him "aroused."
Vito Coppola's response
For his part, Coppola said he would be perfectly comfortable with a same-sex pairing. "Dance is something that… will put you under. It's a kind of challenge to yourself, but it will take out a version of yourself that you never imagined," he said.
"That's the beauty of it," Coppola added. "Sometimes when they start, the celebrities, they don't have experience. They have never danced ballroom or latin and by the end of their journey, be it week seven, eight, or final, they are surprised at how good they are doing."
But Carr, at least for now, is not tempted to go on that particular journey. While he is a big fan of the show, he says that he "doesn't love it enough" to be one of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman's replacements.
Hosting rumours addressed
Before Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe were confirmed as Strictly's new hosting trio, Carr was one of around a dozen celebrities rumoured to host the show.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Carr said: "I didn't turn it down, I was just clumped with everyone and had to say: 'No, don't put me in the mix.'"
He added: "I love watching Strictly, but I don't love it enough. People are always moaning there aren't new, fresh faces on TV. Well, wouldn't it be amazing to give it to a young person who absolutely adores Strictly and dancing?"
Doubts about dancing knowledge
Carr also pointed out that he really doesn't know enough about the technicalities of ballroom dancing. "I don't really know the dances," he admitted, "I'd be like: 'Oh here they go again, that dance with the legs.'"
He also worried that becoming the face of Strictly would leave him overexposed: "If I rock up on it, they'll go: 'Oh, here he is again.' Why waste it on me?"
Besides, he says, he is sceptical about his "national treasure" status: "Everyone's a national treasure now, I'm sick of it. We should have only five, and it's one in, one out."
