It's been a little over a year since Lacey Turner bowed out of EastEnders, stepping back from her character to focus on life outside the show.

Since stepping away from the soap, Turner has announced her debut memoir, Gold Dust: My Life (So Far) with the Women Who Shaped Me, and was confirmed to be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing – something she has wanted to do for years.

"It's been something I've wanted to do for such a long time. I just haven't been brave enough," Turner told Radio Times in an exclusive interview. "It feels so surreal to actually be sitting here. But it's very exciting."

As for why she felt now was the right time to do the show, Turner said: "I just thought, you know, I'm 38 and I need to be a bit brave. I'm not at EastEnders at the moment, so this is the perfect opportunity, and it is just such a lovely opportunity that not many people get. So I'd be a fool not to take it."

But there are plenty of nerves as, for the first time, audiences will be seeing Lacey Turner as herself and not behind a character.

"It's quite nerve-wracking, actually, because I've sort of spent my whole career protecting myself and keeping that just for me and my family," she told .

She continued: "So this will sort of be the first time that I've sort of put myself out there for the nation to get to know. It is quite scary because it's quite easy to hide behind a character. But that is a challenge that I want to overcome."

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 26 September at 6:15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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