Darcey Bussell

Ballet is a healthy world despite what people might think. There's a perception that ballet dancers are skinny and unhealthy, but that's rubbish. You have to be strong, so eating regularly and healthily is essential. ”

Diets don't come into it. You need variety and to have a good source of greens, protein, and nutrition. It is about health rather than looking right. ”

I was pretty rubbish when I first started dancing. I didn't understand the discipline of working on one step over and over again. If you look at it from the outside, you'd think, 'Why would anybody want to do that?' But you just want to get it perfect. It is that constant inner striving that you fall in love with. ”

I wanted to inspire every little girl who wants to be a dancer to fire their imagination about the joys of being on the stage. ”

For every dancer, no matter how amazing your career, there's more to life than ballet. Being adored by your audience, it's only part of the story. ”

Ballet requires movements which are very unnatural. With every step, you do a circular movement of the hip. You turn out from the hip and make your knees point out to the side instead of forward. ”

My husband is Australian, and my family is scattered around the U.K. and France mostly, but we try to get a big group together for the holidays. ”

Even after having children, after five months I was dancing again, which was kind of crazy. ”

Confidence comes from other places, not just how you look. ”

I'm a grazer by nature - fruit, nuts - but I try to discipline myself and sit down for regular meals when the girls are around, as I want to instil good habits in them. ”