Susannah Constantine has opened up about the effects that starring on reality TV shows have had on her wellbeing, saying her experiences left her suffering from PTSD.
The TV fashion advisor, 60, who shot to fame on What Not To Wear alongside co-host Trinny Woodall, took part in both I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2015, and Strictly Come Dancing in 2018.
Susannah admitted her reason for joining I’m A Celeb was for the money, and that she had been paid more than any of her fellow campmates during the series she featured in. She was the first to be eliminated.
However, speaking about her Strictly experience, Susannah admitted that she still kicks herself for not training hard enough.
She told SheerLuxe : "I remember expecting to be a world-class dancer on two or three hours of training a day. I remember on the second day of training I came home and I said to my husband, ‘You know what? I've found something I'm really good at and I think we could win this.’ I mean, how deluded was I?
“I still have PTSD from it – the traumas of I'm A Celebrity pale in comparison to Strictly! You can be absolutely murdered for your lack of talent on that show.”
Like her time in the jungle, Susanna was the first celebrity to be eliminated from the dancing show too. She, together with her dancing partner, Anton Du Beke, scored the lowest scoring Samba and Foxtrot in the show's history.
She went on to describe the experience as horrendous, but that taking part in Strictly Come Dancing was a real privilege due to the friends she made on the series, and the opportunity to be around people who were the best in their field.
She said: “I also struck gold by being paired up with Anton. We're still very much in touch and I love him. But I remember him saying he could tell the minute anyone walked through the door if they could dance and, with me, he knew there was no hope!”
Susannah went on to admit that she no longer watches I’m A Celebrity after her experiences on the show.
