Strictly Come Dancing star Nina Wadia has opened up about the downside of taking part in the dancing competition, admitting that her mental health took a dip after being the first to leave the popular series.
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Speaking on the podcast Lads, Dads and A Couple of Beers, she explained: "I wasn’t expecting it to happen the way it happened, and it happened very quickly… It was all very surreal for me, and when I came out, I was very down. My mental health, I’ve got to tell... I was down. That was from a lot of different feelings.
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"There was a feeling of embarrassment coming out as early as I did, there was a feeling of, ‘did I let people down, did I let myself down?’. All these questions going on in my head.
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"And then reactions, 'Well no... you shouldn’t have come out, you were robbed,' and I’m like, 'I needed that!' I needed that kind of... almost validation, to think I wasn’t going crazy. I didn’t think I was that bad! Then you realise, 'Okay hang on, I need to separate a reality show from what is actually real life.' Reality shows are so the opposite of reality."
Nina was the first to leave the show
Nadia has previously been vocal about the judges' marking on the show, admitting that she didn't understand the system during an Instagram Live. She said: "If you have a competition, have a level playing field. Give everybody a chance, or if not that, then at least mark accordingly.
"You can’t give someone like me a three when I’ve tried so hard and tried something so technically difficult, then at the same time give someone else who’s had a bit of a mistake a seven just because they looked good doing it."
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