Edith Bowman turned down being on Strictly twice: ‘My mum literally didn’t speak to me for a week’-Louise Griffin-Entertainment – Metro

Edith Bowman has been a go-to for music for around two decades (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures & Universal Pictures )

Edith Bowman has revealed she’s turned down appearing on Strictly Come Dancing twice.

‘Twice, I think, I’ve been asked to do Strictly and I’ve said no, and my mum literally doesn’t speak to me for week after it,’ the DJ admitted.

‘I don’t have time at the minute! I like dancing with my mates at clubs and festivals, like no one’s watching. I’d rather have that than all eyes watching.’

Edith, who chatted to Metro.co.uk ahead of the second weekend of All Points East Festival, where she’s been fronting the BMW Play Next stage, has been a staple in music for around two decades, with radio shows on the BBC and Virgin, and her own podcasts, including Soundtracked.

Many fans also grew up watching her on TV, after she won Comic Relief Does Fame Academy in 2005 and featured on Top of the Pops alongside long-time pal Cat Deeley.

‘When I did Fame Academy a lifetime ago, weirdly the bit I least enjoyed was the bit where you performed in front of everybody,’ she recalled. ‘I loved the whole cameraderie, with Reggie [Yates] and Gina [Yashere], and Adrian [Adrian Edmondson], and Jon [Culshaw], and everybody in there. And all the rehearsals, and we would just muck about with Carrie and David [Grant, singing coaches]. They were amazing.

‘Even the rehearsals were fun but just the pressure and the nerves of stepping out was awful! So nerve-racking. I feel like I’ve done that.’

‘No part of my thought process was about my profile or about my career. It was almost like something you were expected to do being part of the BBC family, and supporting Comic Relief, and it was my part to do something,’ she continued.

‘What I wasn’t prepared for was coming out the other side of it. You’re in a bubble and you have no idea what’s going on in the outside world.’

Edith revealed that when she came out Fame Academy, she had ‘paps really quite aggressively chasing me in cars.’

‘I really didn’t like that – I wasn’t prepared for it and it wasn’t why went in.’

Of course, we’re now seeing the return of nostalgic TV shows like The Big Breakfast and Big Brother – so would Edith want to see Fame Academy or Top of the Pops return?

Edith is fronting the BMW Play Next stage at All Points East (Picture: Soul Media/BMW)

There’s an accompanying podcast (Picture: BMW)

‘I’d like to see new things happen, rather than the regurgitation of the old things, but on a personal note and absolutely selfishly, I’d really like to see something like Wogan or Parky come back, but with me hosting it,’ she said. ‘It’s not a variety show, it’s quite a straight-forward chat show that’s interested in conversations, in people’s stories, but it’s hosted by a woman – because we’ve never had it!’

In fact, to add to her already amazing career, Edith admitted there’s a list of things she still wants to do ‘the length of my medium-sized legs.’

‘I love what I do and I have complete impostor syndrome most days…but I’ve been stuck at home the last few days with Covid and I get itchy feet because I’m not working, I’m not doing the things I love to do and it just reaffirms to me that so much of me as a person, is because I love what I do and I put so much of me into what I do.

‘But I also think it’s really important to listen and to accept when things are ready to move on and change, and that allows me to go down my list and go, “Right, I’m gonna try that next.’”

The star opened up on Fame Academy and if she’d ever go back to reality TV (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

‘That’s something that I’ve learnt, through not getting work or being turned down for things. I’ve had that my whole career, even from getting negative feedback about my accent. I never feel complacent, I always feel like I have to work for things,I never expect to get jobs, I never expect to be given the positions that I’ve been lucky enough to get. I’m willing to work for them and I will work for them’.

In terms of what she’s most excited for elsewhere in her career, the list isn’t exactly small, from a BBC Two programme with Colin Murray, which is ‘outside for what [she’s] known for’, and has seen her travelling around the UK, to hosting Hogmany for BBC Scotland once again.

Meanwhile, Edith has also been a champion for new music and smaller artists, and has been fronting the BMW Play Next stage at All Points East, aiming to further celebrate new music.

‘I love it, as a festival, I think it’s great. There’s something really attractive about a city festival. I’ve seen quite a few over the years, whether that be in Barcelona, or Glasgow, or London, and I think it’s kind of getting bigger and better every year.

‘It’s the second time that we’ve [fronted the BMW Play Next stage], we have the pdocast and the main aim of it was to have a platform that’s about new music and to have a conversation about new music and creativity, and to have BMW connect to that and put up the money to set up the stage is amazing, both in terms of something for me to be part of, but also for these artists.’

Edith Bowman is hosting the BMW Play Next Stage at All Points East, showcasing ground-breaking music from the next generation of talented artists alongside headline acts.

Listen to latest episodes of the BMW Play Next Podcast here: discover.bmw.co.uk

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