Strictly Come Dancing's Chizzy Akudolu has heaped praise on her dance partner Pasha Kovalev, saying the pair are having the best time trying to outwit each other. The Holby City actress, 43, has filmed an exclusive vlog for HELLO! Online, in which she reflects about last week's performance, and talks about her upcoming foxtrot.
"We are having a ball," said Chizzy. "He's such a lovely bloke. He's really funny as well and quite dry and quite quick-witted, and there are times where I go, 'Ah, I thought I was the funny one' but he's being equally funny. There's a lot of banter, where we are, not trying to top each other's jokes, but it's like, who's going to give up first?"
"There's a lot of banter," said Chizzy
Chizzy also spoke about her slight mishap in last week's cha cha cha, saying: "I think we all did really well, I think we all deserve a pat on the back because we didn't really know exactly what to expect… But a few things went slightly wrong, for me personally, the shoe in the dress incident. Thankfully it came out but at the time I was thinking, 'I'm going to fall, I'm going to fall, I'm going to fall.' And it's a good thing the skirt was sewn into the leotard bit or else that would have come down, and that wouldn't have been pretty."
Vlog: Chizzy talks first week of rehearsals with Pasha
"A few things went slightly wrong," the actress admitted of her performance
The actress received "lovely" comments from the judges, who said she was "sassy" and "had rhythm", but needed some refinement. On Saturday night, Chizzy and Pasha will take on the foxtrot. "It's got its own hurdles, mostly the framing," said Chizzy. "You've got to keep your body in a certain frame and that's proving difficult. I'm hoping I can stay in that position on Saturday night. We're hoping to improve on 21 and make it through the eliminations."
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Of her dress, she revealed: "It's purple and lemon, which is lovely, but the big question is, what will my hair look like this week? This week's it's the foxtrot and it's dancing to I'm A Woman from Smokey Joe's Café so question is what will my hair look like, and what will we call it?!"