GYM GIRLS LOCKER ROOM - Dianne Buswell: Strictly SECRETS, Overcoming Her Eating Disorder & Healing Power Of Movement

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

*Trigger Warning: This episode discusses disordered eating. If this topic isn't a good fit for you, please skip this episode. Don't hesitate to reach out for support: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/ EP 12 - Our studio was buzzing when Strictly Come Dancing's Dianne Buswell took a break from the Strictly Tour to chat with Syd in the GGLR. In this epsiode, Syd and Dianne cover a lot of ground from the realities of life on tour to her thoughts on the rise of TikTok dances. Dianne also shares genuine advice for those struggling with disordered eating, whether dancing is truly for everyone, overcoming stage fright, and so much more! WATCH the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NFHt2HQeFH8 connect with Dianne: https://diannebuswell.komi.io/ 💘 join the GGLR community: INSTA - https://www.instagram.com/gymgirlslockerroom/ FACEBOOK COMMUNITY PAGE - https://bit.ly/3TqhxDG TIKTOK - https://www.tiktok.com/@gymgirlslockerroom/ 📲 find Syd on socials: INSTA - https://www.instagram.com/sydgrows/ TIKTOK - https://www.tiktok.com/@sydgrows/ Want to work with Gym Girls Locker Room? Email us: [e-mail] GYMSHARK - 10% off code: SYDNEY

I always wanted to be like other dancers, to look like her, my body to look like her or my feet to look like her. There were so many different people I wanted to be that I was losing who actually I was as a dancer. You start to think, oh, you know, I'm not winning, maybe it's because of that. We talk quite often on here about how just impressionable young women are yeah and so when it's mixed with performance and being judged and perceived by people it can I can understand that it gets so messy in your head yeah I remember clearly being told like if you do want to make it to the top you're gonna have to change a few things I did lose a lot of weight at one point. When I went to the doctors I felt like it was very dangerous to even fly that far because of how weak your body was. Your heart was so weak

could have easily caused a heart attack which is quite scary. Hi guys and welcome back to the Gym Girls Locker Room podcast. Today we have none other than Strictly star Diane Buswell. We spoke what really goes on behind the scenes at Strictly, growing up in a competitive environment, the toxic dance industry and the impact that that has on you growing up as a young impressionable girl. We also discussed Diane's journey with her eating disorder and how low the lows were and how she recovered and how learning from that has really changed her relationship with food and how there's hope for people that are also suffering with disordered eating. We also spoke about how healing movement is and the power of dancing I do just want to give you guys a trigger warning that this does discuss eating disorders so if that's something that you're not

able to take in right now then that's absolutely fine feel free to give one of our other episodes a listen to but yeah I think this was like really helpful and also low-key just fangirling the whole entire time so without further ado I hope you enjoyed the episode next to coming on the gym girls locker room podcast it's such an honor to have you here thank you for having me we were saying it would be so funny because like the kind of demographic here at the um offices we're in we were like, oh my God, imagine some of the office managers would just look around and they'd just see Diane from Strictly.

And you can't miss me either with this red hair. You certainly can't. It's just there. Yeah, literally. No, so happy for you to join us. You're currently on the Strictly tour right now.

Yeah. How's that going? It's going really good. I actually love touring I think I just love theater I love the fact that you can see the audience and you get like such a buzz from them like they just love it so much and what I think is really special is like how much this show means to a lot of people like people come over and over again to to see us dance and you can just tell they leave so much happier so it's really nice to be able to give other people

a bit of happiness just by them coming to watch us put on a show so it's quite fulfilling actually I love it I can imagine um so how's your week looking whilst you're on tour? Like what is that like for Lonline Imagine, right? So we do like eight shows a week. So it's like Mondays is usually our day off. But I say day off. We're all such like doers that we try and jam pack as much as we can into that one day off that we get. So yesterday we went around Manchester and we did probably more than what you guys have done living here. So it's like we really get it done.

Then Tuesday all the way up to Sunday where, yeah, in the theaters, dancing, sometimes double show days. But again, if we have a show at night, we'll try and make the most of the morning. So like I tend to like to find hot yoga place somewhere because I think it's like just stretches out my body ready for the show. But yeah, it's, it's fun. Cause we get to see loads of different places that I probably would never have gone to if we weren't on tour and we're with like a really cool group of people. So I always say it's a bit like, I remind myself of, well, it reminds me of when I was on year seven camp when I was younger.

I loved that feeling like everyone's getting on the bus, like a school trip. And then you get to your hotel when like everyone wants to stay up late. And it's really fun. I feel like a child again. Oh, I love it. Well, obviously this is the Gym Girls.com podcast.

So we, at the top of every episode, we love to people what is your workout split so I'm thinking okay she's on tour she's already doing eight shows a week what does it look like I know you are a little bit you love your parties love your yoga so are you actually fitting in anything else or is that what it's kind of looking like for you so like I said before I love doing a yoga workout in the morning if I have a one show day because after the show at night we get on a bus straight away basically and we travel and then we sleep in the next destination then you wake up and you do feel quite stiff after like the intense show and then the travel on the bus so I love to find a hot yoga place wherever I go uh and it just really releases

my muscles ready to go again basically I feel like it's kind of a bit of a recovery for my body body uh but then I also do like before the show I'll do strength exercises uh I have a little bit of a I'll say dodgy right hip so I'm trying to strengthen that so I do like more pilates based stuff but things that I've sort of been recommended by physio to strengthen my glutes and things like that so I'll always spend about half an hour prior to the actual show starting just going through sort of exercises that strength exercises really but yeah it's mainly yoga show strength exercises that's kind of how it works I wonder as well like when I'm hearing you say that I'm like I wonder if you also do it I mean correct me if I'm wrong but I wonder if you're doing like the whole like Pilates thing because it's just like

a very different energy it's like I'd imagine the shows are like super high energy right so I think that's why I love yoga yeah and Pilates because it is so chilled and the show if anyone has seen the show it is very intense and high energy. And I'm constantly smiling and always like with lots of energy. Even after the show, like meeting and greeting people, you still got this energy to you. So I find yoga and Pilates is a real good way for me. Physically, you know, like I I said stretching out and helping my muscles recover after being sort of that intense work but mentally as well mentally it's just so nice to kind of not

think of anything else and have someone guide you through a practice I love I love hearing their voice and not having to think myself because when I'm dancing I'm constantly thinking right I've got to do this right here and I have to make sure my legs pointed there or my everything has a real thought process behind it whereas yoga I just let them tell me exactly what to do and I just sort of move my body to do it which I love and it's like no performance as well there's no performance you're just there in in the moment yeah I mean I still try and point my toes but I do yeah I am I am really invested in the moment and I I fell in love with yoga um oh like years and years ago and ever since I've just been hooked on it just purely for that sort of zen moment and just a time for me to go in and not think of anything else which is really nice

okay so going on to like strictly and like dancing because I just I can't even fathom it kind of surprises me that you say to hear you even say that like when you're dancing you are thinking so like is it using a lot of like brain function yeah it's not like a because in my head I'm like oh she's a professional like she's been doing this it must be very like kind of second nature nature. Yeah, just like autopilot. But actually, is it mentally fatiguing? A lot of things can be autopilot, like that you learn from a young age, obviously. But in the show, especially that I'm doing now,

I'm dancing with basically all the pro boys. So it's not like you're just dancing with one partner and that's it. You're swapping and changing all the time so each boy has a different lead each boy wants a different reaction like it's very um what do you mean by that like so there's a lead and follow in in latin and ballroom dancing and when we get taught as young kids each teacher sort of has a different look on a lead and a follow. And they, you know, there's, there is just typically one lead and follow, but the way they do it is always different.

So when you're dancing with each different boy, they all feel very different. It could be the same step, but it feels different just because of the lead and follow situation. So each time you change partners, it's like, oh, okay, I've got to do this on this one. I've got to be a bit shorter with my lead, a bit longer with my lead, all technical dance terms here. But it's interesting because you are using your brain as to, okay, I'm dancing now with Gorka, I'm going to do this slightly different, or I'm dancing with Vito, now I'm dancing with, you know, Vito. Now I'm going to do this a bit different. It's, yeah, always thinking. As well, you're always thinking technically how can you make it look better.

And, yeah, it's never-ending. Dancing is never-ending. You think you've learned it all, but you haven't, which is what I love about it as well because you're constantly learning. You're constantly using your brain. I think dancing is one of the things that like for example people with dementia and stuff it's one of the last things they remember because it uses so much of your brain like the music that you're doing it to the steps that you're trying to remember um yeah it's a known fact that it's

one of the last things I remember my my nan had dementia and she could still like tell you about her jitterbug days when she was dancing and it was one of the last things she remembered which is mad i was actually gonna ask you about that in this episode about like dancing and like the power of like healing that it brings and just like movement yeah yeah it's just powerful like we found like loads of studies but like saying that dance helps reduce stress increase levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin help develop new neural connections especially in regions involved in executive function long-term memory and spatial recognition it's just like yeah it's funny because I mean I'm not a dancer

and then to be honest I don't think I ever really dance but actually there's so much power in in dance yeah yeah it's true I really see it as well when I'm teaching celebrities to dance yeah because they've obviously most of them have never danced before and I really see a change in them mainly in their uh obviously they learn to dance but mainly mentally I just see they have so much joy and it's the reason why no one wants to leave the show because they they have a purpose they get up they dance and they feel good about it like it gives them so much joy and then when they leave the show it's like oh like now what but they you know a lot of them still do keep dancing because of that but I really notice it a lot it really um their mood changes you know they could come in in the morning and be a little bit you know not feeling it but

as soon as you start dancing or they start to understand about it a bit more. And then you see them, oh, I'm finally getting this. It's an instant mood change. So is like dancing for everyone? I personally think everyone can dance. I always take it back to like when we're kids, right? And when you put on music and a baby just, oh, so cute. When a baby, a baby hears music hears music right and a baby will always like bop their head really yeah honestly if you put music on and yeah babies will they start to they start to move they start to bop their yeah and it's so it's all it's all in us we can all do it

it's just we we think that we can't like the amount of times someone's come to me and goes, honestly, I cannot dance. Okay, well, let's try. And they end up being able to dance. So I think everyone can dance. It's, you know, maybe some people aren't born to be a dancer, but I think it's in everyone to be able to enjoy music and to be able to move their body to that music

no I don't you know what maybe you are right I don't know like even for myself I feel like it's like maybe it's like a social programming thing like I it's like a stiffness like they even asked me to do like silly little tiktoks for gym girls locker room yeah and like Alex even said okay Alex Diane I was like no you don't understand that's my worst nightmare but and so it's actually like that it's almost like a mental thing of like me being and people that think they can't dance being like oh this like freeze you know yeah um how do you go about teaching someone a celebrity in the Strictly process like how is that first of all how is that different for you as a dancer compared to like how you're saying you're dancing with the

professionals and your colleagues like how what's the difference in experience well obviously when I'm dancing with another professional they've also learned their whole lives. So it's your technical terms, you're talking in technical terms in dancing. And it's a lot of, it's a quicker process basically. But when you are with a celebrity who has never danced before, I think it's really like you say, it's about nurturing and it's about making them believe

that they can do this because I can't be there judging them on anything because they've never done it before. So they think I'm judging them, but really I'm not at all. I'm like, and I want to make that clear from the get go. I'm like, nothing you do is wrong. Number one, I want you to try everything and feel like it's a really safe space for you to be able to move your body in different ways that you might not feel comfortable doing but actually it might be the perfect way so like don't ever feel like oh she's gonna think I'm gonna look stupid here that's the first thing I try and sort of with my celebrity get out the way so that there's this relationship where they feel like nothing they do is silly or they feel like, oh, God, I'm going to look stupid out there because they're not.

And I think the more you kind of release your inhibitions, is that the word? Release your inhibitions, the better dancer you become. Yeah. So it is really, it's like you say, it's so much mental as it is a physical thing. Yeah. For sure. Oh, I think that's so sweet. That sounds like, that sounds so healing even hearing you say that because it is just like,

I couldn't even imagine going on that show. Like I know it's most people's dreams. Yeah. But I think, gosh, that is such a big thing. To not only be like, okay, I'm going to learn to dance, but to do it in front of people and, like, perform. I think that's wild. I mean, Ellie Leach was, I mean, a great example last year.

She was so shy and so reserved. And then by the end of it, her last dance was like, all us pros were like, go on, girl. Like, she was being flipped upside down. She was so sassy. And she believes it strictly changed the way she feels now even to this day. Like, she grew so much on that show. And it was, you know, she had a great partner in Vito who sort of does the same,

just, you know, gives them the confidence that they are able to do it yeah and it was a mental thing for her because she she physically could dance for sure but mentally she always thought oh no I can't do this like I can't I can't do the like the sexy bits or even the like real posh bits but she was a great little dancer in the end and looked incredible just like really leading into it I can understand that must be where the frustration comes if someone does get like eliminated it's like they were getting so like you're seeing the progress yeah that's the sad bit and I think that's why we do take it so to heart like everyone's like it's just a tv show it's like it's not it's more

than a tv show because you are seeing them change as a person so you um you really empathize with them when they do leave the show it's like oh they were just starting to sort of understand a bit more about dancing and so but i mean it's the nature of the show and someone has to go home but yeah it can be quite soul destroying at the same time yeah totally um so how do you like do you go into a new pairing with any expectations or like I mean I assume not right because you could have like the difference in some like all of the contestants is so vast so do you go in with an idea of or do you just go all right we'll just take it once i yeah usually a blank canvas but however once you find out who your partner is i like to do my research so it i can

at least see their character because obviously for me i always want to make the choreography something that is plays to their strength yeah so i don't want to do something that i feel like it's probably not going to benefit them uh so i try and do as much research before that first like proper meeting um but then your best research is actually spending the time with them in the training room and seeing how they react to certain moves or um you know their personality like that always a factor in how I choreograph the routine so um but yeah usually a blank canvas and then I sort of see see as we get along and they always improve like you know they might start with no experience at all but I always know they're gonna end up learning how to dance

for sure the only way is up the only way is up exactly gotta go somewhere exactly um so do you like have you ever had stage fright or is that just do you still have it uh not as much anymore but yeah I've definitely had stage fright for sure and it's weird to say that because when I am performing, you'd think I'm the most confident person in the world. You really wouldn't think it. But there have been moments where I've completely panicked about going on stage, which is scary and not very nice because obviously I love it so much and I feel that only came through pressures of dancing I think through pressure of or having to to do something perfect or knowing that someone was in the audience watching and what feedback would they give me and so that for sure came from that because when I was

younger not a care in the world like oh so it wasn't that you stopped like I feel like I was expecting to be like yeah when I was younger I used to that actually was something that arose yeah that arose as I probably got better at dancing and as I understood that there was probably more at stake with dancing like more when I was in companies where I was surrounded by extremely good dancers and you just feel the pressure, I think exactly that. And that is what gave me the sort of stage anxiety. And I always, I was like, I just want to be like when I was little and didn't have any of that worry. And, you know, every now and then it might come back but it's I mean so much better now but yeah I think in the middle of my career there was definitely a time where I

thought oh actually didn't enjoy being on stage for a bit I just thought oh I really this is the last place I want to be and that I would never say that like ever because I love it so much so yeah that was quite not very nice actually didn't like that what did you when you sort of reflect now like what were those steps you took to work through that or I had to work yourself out I think I wanted to be like other dancers and always wanted to look like her or I wanted my body to look like her or my feet to look like her and my legs look like her like there were so many different people I wanted to be that I was losing who actually I was as a dancer and I and I and I noticed like people would kind of like, are you

okay? Like, cause on stage I wasn't bright and bubbly like I normally am. And it was, yeah, it was a real transition where I had to go, wait, hang on. I'm trying to be like so many other people yet the best version of myself is me. And we all know that the best version of myself is me and we all know that the best version of ourselves is ourself and that took a while you think it's easy just to say that but it took a while for me to get out of that rut of of constantly comparing myself to others and to just go right okay I just need to go out and and be that little Diane again who enjoyed what they did so much. And that's what I think my power on stage was, is the energy I had and the love, the pure passion I had for dancing really was something that number one, got me the job on stage. And that's where I felt the most comfortable. So I had to really talk to myself to to get me back into that

that moment um but yeah I feel like now I'm I feel a lot more confident with just being myself especially on stage now like yeah in fact pretty much 100% myself on stage but that those things can always just you just have one thought or one memory that can bring you back to that moment. So, you know, I'd be lying to say that I've never thought about that again, because you do, but I'm just, I'm very aware now. It's like that saying that like comparison is the thief of joy. I think like everyone will resonate in some, you don't have to be a dancer, you don't have to be a performer, you'll understand that like, it's just that little like thought that will niggle in and then

yeah if you do let it sort of consume you exactly that's when you see the downward spiral okay so I love that you're saying that you found your power and like stepping into you and who you are at your like core and your essence I know I've heard like people say when they're performing that they kind of or like actors or dancers they'll like put on like an act like they they'll get over like their stage fright or whatever their nerves by stepping into someone else yeah for you would you say you're kind of the opposite and that you're just kind of really being your your worth and your power or yeah I feel like especially with dancing I am truly myself when it comes to dancing however I can play different roles

in the dancing so you know if I'm doing more of a contemporary piece I put myself into more of a somber situation if I'm doing something a bit more upbeat it's me in that upbeat situation acting is I feel a little bit different um I have been sort of dipping my my toes and fingers into acting stuff and that is a bit different I do take myself sort of out of Diane world and put it into into somebody else um and I enjoy that as well but yeah with my dancing it's always me but just in different situations and scenarios I love as well what you're saying about like just kind of going back to like that child version of you I feel like that's what all of us are kind of trying to do you know with anything we're trying to just unlearn these things we picked up along the way um with reference to

like dancing obviously you've been doing it for like years right so do you feel like that there's things that you've like been on like an unlearning journey of I feel like we all hear these stereotypes about sort of the dance community how has your experience been with that yeah I it's been like sort of up and down in in my dancing I think I I grew up in a really small little town so uh I didn't go to probably like the best dance school that you could get in Australia um but I loved it. And I felt pretty like prim of the proper when I was in my little dance school in Bunbury. But then obviously you go and compete and you're going up into the city where there's many more dance schools and they are like probably the best of the best. So you felt a bit like, oh, not as in in the city where you went to compete uh so there was always

that little up and down moment where you feel really really high and then you'll go and you feel kind of quite low it can be dancing growing up as a dancer it can be oh gosh all sorts of emotions really like the highs the highest highs and sometimes the lowest lows and it's but I think that that kind of helped me in lots of situations in life like I experienced a lot of real sadness when I was little because maybe the things that I really wanted I wasn't getting but it made me kind of work hard for that in a way uh but appreciate also the other moments it's hard hard to explain but I feel like there was it's definitely been a roller coaster for sure and like I said it wasn't till I was sort of dancing professionally is when I started to really feel the pressures more so but I think the sadness I used to get

as a dancer was it was mainly just because like oh I really wanted to win that or I wanted to make the final in that and it wasn't like life or death at all but at that moment in life you thought oh gosh like I was so distraught that I didn't make that final. But I had a really good support system. Like my mom was always so supportive and, you know, never, she wasn't a dance mom as such. She kind of just said, oh, it's all right. You know, you don't need to win everything and you don't need to be the best at that. But, you know, I loved watching you and, you know know she made me feel very very good about it but still as that little girl you you wanted to be the winner but I think that that's helped me a lot through Strictly because obviously you can't win you know I can't go on Strictly and

win every year I mean I haven't yet at all but but it makes you you know it makes you in life I think go you don't need to be that you don't need to be a winner to be successful. I think is what I'm trying to get at actually is that you can maybe be, you know, sixth, seventh, eighth maybe and still be very successful in your career. You know, you think if you're not winning, then that's it. You know, you're not going to make it at all. But I actually think you have a bit more passion in you because you've never really got to that top level. So you're always striving. Sometimes I think if you are at that top level, you take it all for granted and not for everyone, but yeah, I think it could get like that. So yeah yeah I don't know if I really answered your question there but

no no that was so good to hear um yeah because I I just I wonder like we with a few people we've had as guests we've been talking about kind of being in competitive sports as a child and like the impact that has on you um and I feel like a lot of our guests kind of decided to part ways with whatever they were doing and I I think it's an interesting talking point the fact that you've continued through with dance and how your relationship has changed with dance something that was like a hobby to being something that like is obviously your lip how you make your living now and I don't know it's that like is obviously your lip how you make your living now and I don't know it's just like how's your relationship been with that like the highs

the lows and how does that like have an effect on your psyche you know as a child or do you think actually no it's fine there's definitely it there's definitely had effects, I think, for sure throughout the whole career. I think any sort of competitive sport, there is a mental side to it. But I stopped competing actually when I was 21 and went into performing. So there's like a bit of a difference. I think competitive world is probably a little bit more judgy I would say uh and that's kind of why at 21 when I got offered to be in a stage show where people what the difference I found was when I was competing people look at

what's wrong basically like oh what's yeah no we're not going to mark her well because she's not doing this very well or not doing that very well whereas when I went to perform you have an audience of people watching you appreciating what you're doing because they've bought a ticket to come see you they want to be there watching you they don't want to criticize you so I feel like that's the difference competitive and then performance wise like now what I do when I'm going out there dancing in front of all these people I feel so much joy and love because they're sitting there like literally watching like in awe and loving they're not sitting there going oh she didn't do a great bachacada there they wouldn't even know

what a bachacada is you know what I mean yeah whereas like when you're competing they're going oh she didn't do a great batch of carder there they wouldn't even know what a batch of carder is you know what I mean yeah whereas like when you're competing they're looking at every single step you do and analyzing it so the pressure is so much higher I think than what I do now because what I do now is is about love and passion and joy and I see that from both sides which is really nice yeah definitely I know you've like opened up recently um through I've seen on various different things about your eating disorder was that like would would you say that was a direct consequence of kind of growing up in that dance world for you was that the catalyst I think so definitely I mean I grew up as well in a family who loves food so so so much like my mum is um she's Italian so it was just constant she's such a good cook and we just all of us all our family love love a good meal we find eating a celebration

like every birthday Christmas anything is like always a get together with loads of food and we love it. And dancing, it was a real, I was probably like, I would say, like I think normal now, but when I look back, I used to think I was a bigger size compared to all the other girls. And obviously when you're little and you look around and you're kind of maybe a bit bigger than the other girls, you start to think, oh, you know, I'm not winning. Maybe it's because of that. So I think even from a young age, I had these thoughts in my head. And then I remember clearly being told like if you do want to make it to the top you're going to have to change a few things which was you know aimed at being a bit fitter and these kind of things they can stick into your head so at a young age I think it was kind of a a domino effect from there and then obviously when I joined the dance company, you're again

surrounded by girls who just, you know, you want to, that was where that whole thing of, I want to look like other people and I want to dance like them. You just see what they look like and you compare them to yourself. So you get into this rut of, of doing stuff. And then what I found really hard was that when that was happening, say I did lose a lot of weight at one point, people would say, you look great. I know, that positive. So it's like a positive reinforcement, not necessarily on stage and you're dancing, but around just in a a costume or something you look great so you think in your head oh okay good that's that's a good thing I look great so therefore I must keep going with this so um I think that kind of environment is definitely doesn't help the situation and I'm sure it still goes on a lot now. Yeah, I was going to ask you that. I think I would love to work a bit more with dancers and just because I'm sure it does still

go on and it makes me really sad. Like even if I hear anything like that backstage or anything, I tell the girls how like, you're beautiful the way way you are like I genuinely do not want to hear any of that stuff because I just know the the spiral it can lead to and how deep it cuts as well it really does like um even you know with with eating and stuff like that you know enjoy what you're you're eating don't look at it and think oh I shouldn't be eating this today like just yeah I have a very different relationship now with with food and with exercise and with with all that stuff for sure because of all of the stuff I went through where did like where does that actually come from that

is it is it and is it just a dancer aesthetic this like gentle width or not even gentle to be honest but this whispering of like if you looked like this like where is or not even gentle to be honest but this whispering of like if you looked like this like where is that actually coming from i think it is a dancer's aesthetic i think you see pictures of dancers and you see the top dancers and they're all you know with their limbs are just long and lean and uh and i just think that's yeah embedded in your in your head to oh gosh that that looks beautiful when to look at but actually like I see the opposite now I see well I see both I think I think all bodies are beautiful the way they are but I used to only be zoned into one type of body but now I look at all and I think gosh gorgeous like all of them so I think

that's the difference I used to be zoned into one type and now I like no they all do the same thing like they can all be incredible yeah I didn't know if in some weird twisted way it did actually serve some like functional you know it was like oh we're telling you this because but actually no yeah I think possibly ballet is a bit different but I never did ballet so actually I feel like that might be even more of a tough situation there but um like in my world in in the boring and latin world i don't think it does serve any purpose to be any sort of height or or weight but i don't know about ballet i'd have to do a bit more research into into that dance style i i don't know but um yeah not in like boring and latin

yeah i wonder if there is like yeah nowadays if there because I was going to ask you like do you feel that things have changed quite a lot now in that sort of jump of time and I wonder if there is any sort of safeguarding I think it's like it must it must be really tough when you are a performer because it's it is based on how you look and yeah I think when you're so like we talk quite often on here about how just impressionable young women are yeah and so when it's mixed with performance and being judged and perceived by people it can I can understand that it gets so messy in your head yeah it definitely can like I won't sit here and say and say it's not like that you have because you will resonate out beauty no matter what and you have this star power that people are just like she's

the one and I think that is the power you see it in actors you see it in so many people that you can tell that they are just so comfortable in themselves that they are they just a star and I think that's how a star is made is when they're so so comfortable in themselves yeah absolutely yeah did you know whilst you were in it I want to talk like recovery now because I do know that it is something that a lot of women do struggle with yeah um was it something that you were aware of whilst you were in it? Like, I know, I know this is happening. Or were you actually kind of blind to it?

I definitely wasn't blind to it. I understood what was happening. I understood, especially when I started to feel really sick. Like I felt really weak. I felt like that was when a lot of the anxiety was coming as well. A lot of stage fright, all that stuff was really high at that point. I saw that you were like, you said you were on like the verge of having a heart attack. Yeah, I was so weak that when I went to the doctors after my contract,

they were worried about that flight that I just did a flight from America to Australia. And with the pressure and stuff, they like like it was very dangerous to even fly that far because of how weak your body was your heart was so weak and it could have yeah could have easily caused a heart attack which is quite scary and when they say things like that you're like oh it is very serious which I was aware of it but I didn't I wasn't aware of the, what damage you're actually doing to your body until a doctor says something like that to you. And you're like, ah, okay. That was a real wake up call for me. Uh, because I am someone who kind of prides, I pride myself on wanting to look after my body. And I certainly wasn't doing that. You know, you think, oh yeah, I'm only

eating like one egg a day or whatever. That's not a healthy thing, especially how much I was doing, you know, with the shows and stuff. So it made me really change my perspective and I now want to feel good. And in return, I will look good because I I feel good you know if you look after your body and your mind I'm I'm gonna look good yeah and like using food as fuel yeah oh I love that because I feel like it's like okay well sure if you're fueling yourself correctly then just as a byproduct you're going to look good but making sure that you're kind of putting nutrient first yeah meals nourishing yeah feeling good yeah so what was recovery like for you was it a slow process or I am I was quite lucky it was quite a fast process

if I'm honest I think what I realized was very quickly that I missed my dancing, number one, a lot. I missed having the energy. That's my thing, you know. I have energy and people are always like, oh, your energy is so infectious, blah, blah, blah. And no one ever said that to me anymore. I was like, I really missed that. I missed that compliment. I missed the energy compliment.

And so I realized a lot of things very, very quickly. And when I was taken out of the dance world and I was back home, my family were all amazing support and they helped me a lot. And I did recover really quite fast actually. And it turned me on to really looking after my body and I wanted to learn more about my body and learn like more about nutrition and stuff like that which is kind of where I found my love of yoga where I found my love of uh like I love nutrition and I love learning anything I can learn. It's like wellness as well. Wellness, yeah.

That was where really my love for all of that came. And I just started to feel better so instantly really from starting to look after myself that I thought, this is what I should be addicted to. Not the feeling awful and the, you know, maybe I got a comment of I looked great every now and then but I felt awful so then when I started to feel good about myself again that's what I become addicted to is actually wow I'm I'm actually doing things that making my body feel good now

so that becomes an addiction which is a great addiction oh my god totally yeah um I think it's so interesting as well what you say about like that whole like energy like I feel like you are known for being such a big like character and being so like bubbly and like out there and even you see it with like bodybuilders when they are doing those extreme cuts which are not sustainable or healthy um they just they're so moody and they're so down and you know when you see people that are suffering with eating disorders they are just literally a shadow of themselves um do you have any advice for anyone that is listening that's struggling with disordered eating it is really sad because you almost you see yourself like you say like a shadow and you're you know very well that what you're doing is making you

so like down and and it's it's so hard to just take that step to be like why why am I doing this why am I making myself feel like this it becomes it is an addiction to whatever it is you're doing you know like bodybuilding or in my case, just I had this addiction. I wanted to look a certain way. And I guess, yeah, my advice, try and think about that because I want it to be good advice. When I found what my thing was, which I always kind of, like I say, my energy and all of that, when I lost that and then gained it again, that's when I actually got all my, that's when I got my dream job. That's when I got, you know, the dream boyfriend. That's when I got all these things that I always wanted. It was because I was

actually doing what truly makes me happy. And I think if you make yourself happy first, everything just aligns after that. But when you're down and trying to restrict your eating, restrict your friendships, restrict your moods restricted, nothing is going to go forward. In fact, you're just going down the staircase rather than up. And it's a hard one to think of like that. But it's taking like one staircase at a time. And you will eventually get to like the rainbow at the top, which is really beautiful to do that. So I don't know if that was advice. No, I think that was so good. That was so perfect.

I don't know. That's advice but no I think that was so good I don't know that's just how I feel anyway yeah I was going down the stairs and I and I think you as hard as it is just climb one stair at a time and enjoy that like that step and that moment that you're in it might be the smallest little thing but it's a step up and then take your next step and then you're next and you're next and you're next yeah um yeah no that that's so that's so beautiful to hear um going back to like strictly so do you like people always say like oh yeah I know it's like fine it's not about winning but like does it crush you like look do you have like this competitive streak in you I think naturally yeah I love I love a good competition but however like I said before I was never a winner when I was younger like I never really won much like it was I was always either second

or third or sometimes I didn't make the final so it was I feel like I experienced all of that as a young kid and for a very long time even on Strictly like my first few years I was like always happens to me I never win or I'm always second or but now honestly last year when I was in the final with Bobby I I am so much better with being second now. I genuinely, that night, the final, I had the best time. We danced the best. We felt all the emotions we wanted to feel. That when it came down to stood there, okay, a small part of me was like,

it would be really cool to stand there with Tess and Claudia and lift up the glitter ball but at the same time I was so content and so happy that we'd done the best night and we felt all these beautiful emotions that when they called out Ellie and Vito's name I was like amazing like I didn't need to win it for me to feel good. I already felt good. Um, so yes, I'm competitive, but I'm also really okay now with, with not winning, but it has to be okay that I, I feel like I've, I've made a difference or I feel like I've, um, I feel like it was like, like I said, that final night, I felt just everything was great. Like it felt brilliant. We felt sad.

We felt happy. We felt all the emotions. If I probably didn't feel those in the night, I would have felt sat there, stood there going, oh, it would be really nice to win now. But I didn't. I felt really happy. So it's about the journey that you go on, I I think more than actually lifting the glitter ball for me but that took a long time like you know when I danced with Joe I really wanted to win that was

my second year on the show and I was like gutted I was gutted we didn't win and that took me a good couple of weeks to get over but the more I've gone through it I realized yeah it's was that was that your lack of experience with the show I think so or because you were like I want us to win it yeah oh I mean I would have loved for Joe and I to win it especially at that time but I definitely think it was lack of experience in the show because I think you can you can win the show without winning the show that's what I'm hearing from you yeah that is honestly what I'm hearing that like you're not gonna allow a win or a loss to dictate like you that experience for you and how you feel about it definitely I think all too often we all lean on these kind of like achievements yeah like a physical thing that you're holding to to say you are the winner of that but so many of us are winners in in in so many ways

without having to hold a trophy up at the end so I really yeah I've and I love that I've got that sort of feeling now because it's kind of not the nicest when you're you're so eager to win something but you forget about all the other stuff that's gone on to get to that point anyway you're so eager to win something, but you forget about all the other stuff that's gone on to get to that point anyway. You're focused on a glitter ball. I know. But like… There's so much more.

There's so much more than a glitter ball. So, yeah, and yeah, that's the honest truth. I really wanted to win with Joan. He couldn't tell you how upset I was after. But, yeah, now I'm much better with with all of that and I'm yeah glissable or no glissable I'm really not bothered yeah um does so like is there this like like what's the vibe amongst the professionals that are teaching like is there a competition vibe or is it we're all friends we're all gay like yeah behind the scenes what's going on behind the scenes

we are to be honest we are actually really good friends like all of us we're all um we're all so different which is what i love like we are you know, some are born competitors, you know, and that is fine because actually they do their job extremely well, but they're still lovely and it's just some people are more competitive than others. And that probably stems from their competitive upbringing as well. Like they were always like trained to be competitive dancers. So it's going to come out.

But we are at the same time, all very good friends. And when I say competitive, they would never do anything to jeopardize anyone else like ever. Um, they just, obviously they're a bit more competitive than, than others, but no, I wouldn't say that it's really a competitive vibe we're all really good friends and we all treat our celebrities like you know that we we know that they've never done this before so you can't be like a competitive dancer would be with your celebrity because it's just it's completely different also the show is it's um there's so many different you know abilities on the show is, it's, there's so many different, you know, abilities on the show. Some people have danced before. Some people have never danced before.

Some people have a disability. Some people, you know, dancing, it's male and male or a female and female. So there's so many different variables. We're all dancing a different dance on different days. So it's not a real competition in that sense it's very yeah you know it's you've just got to do the best that you can do at that time so yeah I feel like it's it is a competition but it's not at the end of the day very different yeah yeah um just going back to like what you're saying about being like devastated yeah that you lost um do you do you find that that's like a thing that kind of like high and low after these either nights or after the shows or are you so

like experienced with this that you very much can take it in your stride there is still definitely in high a high and low no matter how much experience I think because even after like say you have been training all week for this one dance that you're going to do on Saturday and if it doesn't maybe go as well as you sort of thought it would you can get a little bit like it can be a bit disappointing because you've worked so hard you know it can be better uh however it's the way I go about that now whereas that could have played on my mind for weeks on end now I feel much more like okay that happened yes I feel a little bit low about it because I know it could have been better but okay we move on like there's another dance to do and what's what is my point in in dwelling on it

I'm just going to learn from it and that's it whereas I feel like previous when I was younger maybe even in my first second year of the show I probably would have dwelled on that a lot longer so yeah there still are highs and lows but I think it's how you deal with the highs and lows is what changes yeah definitely um you've been how long have you been living in the UK for so I've been this will be my eighth year on Strictly and I started living here when I started Strictly so yeah I'll be going into my eighth year of living in the UK oh my gosh I was gonna ask you um I can only really speak for the Australian sort of fitness community because I've heard things about it just being very different to the UK community and I just wondered dance, health, fitness what what sort of observations have

you made about the two do you feel like there's a stark contrast like I feel like I've heard yeah I feel like in Australia it is just I guess the weather makes a big difference in terms of people getting out and being more active yeah so what I noticed when I'm in Australia you wake up in the morning and there's so many people running on the beach or there's, you know, people getting their morning workout in, in terms of like fitness, that's what I observed when I got home to Australia. I'm like, wow, people like they, they just feel and look a bit more energized. Whereas here, I guess the weather doesn't help. It doesn't make people want to get up as early or do their workout before going to work or whatever. So maybe that is a contrast that I've noticed. Um,

but I, cause I've always been in the dance world. Australia is a little bit more, especially where I'm from Western Australia, a bit more um it's quite far from everything else so we were we always worked really hard in the dance world but we weren't really as well known because a lot of the stuff happened in like the UK or around here like the big championships was always in Blackpool and obviously my mum could never afford us to be going to Blackpool so you never really got your name out there in the the bigger sort of world kind of thing hence why when I first danced in Blackpool on Strictly I was like oh my god this was my dream like when I was like six years old I was like mum I want to go to Blackpool I did I did not realize that obviously

I I feel like everyone's heard about blackpool like in the dancers world but i didn't realize that that was like a global thing yeah i didn't realize that it is global i was seven years old when i wanted to go to blackpool oh my i was like my dream in my diary i was like one day i'm gonna make it to blackpool little did i know i'd be on strictly come dancing going to blackpool every year and every year I still have this that little goosebump moment I'm like oh my god like little Di all she wanted was I even told my mum I'd raise like my own money I tried to do lemonade stands I tried to do car washes no one ever came I never made enough money or didn't make a pound a pound a dollar in Australia um so I was never never allowed to go to Blackpool but I always

wanted to oh my gosh what would what would little Diane think oh she would be beside herself like she really would and it was like the thought I had of what Blackpool was like it's very different I didn't think it would look like what the town yeah yeah yeah when I went I was like oh this is what she really wanted to go to when she was seven years old. I actually love it now. Like, I love Blackpool. I think because of the fantasy of me wanting to go there for such a long time. And, you know, when you really want something as a kid and you just, it just felt so far away and so, like, I'll never get there.

And, yeah, so it's pretty crazy to go to Blackpool and dance we're going there on tour as well actually so yeah I I give myself a little pat on the back every time we're there I'm like good go on die I'm glad because I think like going back to even what you were saying about like um just kind of being so focused on like the next thing or like not having this or do I think like sometimes you just need to take a moment to be like wow even where I am right now like a seven year old me would be screaming like not only did you have that goal of going to Blackpool but you're doing it on with Strictly like that's insane it's crazy so it blows my mind yeah and you're right

it's so important to have those moments of like looking back at what you've already achieved and like how far you've come because you can get stuck in moments where you're like, I'm not doing anything. Like if I'm not doing a tour or I'm not doing strictly at that moment, I might have like a four-week gap and I panic myself. I'm like, but you have to just sit there and go, it's all good. You've achieved so much and then when you actually look back at what you've already done you're like yeah I know like it's

insane it's amazing I want to ask you obviously you've come from like years of like do we call it classical dance uh boring in latin is what I've always done okay so yeah but like you know what I mean like really kind of like you're done okay so yeah but like you know what i mean like really kind of like you're doing this properly yeah understand why you'll see where i'm getting at what is the dance world or more specifically your take on like the rise of tiktok dancers i love it do you i love it i think it's great. I think it gets more people dancing, number one. And when you are doing a TikTok, like I, cause I do them myself. It's a great little workout. Like you're, and you feel again, it's that endorphin when you get, when you're dancing and you're learning

because you're learning the choreography. Like sometimes it takes me a good, you know, hour, two hours just to learn. I'm like, how are are they doing that and I'm trying to figure it out and then I'm doing it and then I'm filming it I love it I think it's really really fun and and you know anything dance doesn't have to be classical to be cool or you know technical it can be I think all kinds of dance and that's I've always thought this I've always loved every style I appreciate movement in any which way, shape or form. So I think it's great. I really do. Yeah.

Yeah. I love what you're saying about like this kind of like accessibility that it brings. It just allows, it opens up dance for more people, which I think if you are someone that is passionate about dance, then you would have the same sort of dance that you did. I didn't know if like in the dance world, people like you know look at these silly TikTok I mean I'm sure there might be some people like that but for me personally no I don't I don't think so at all and I think I could speak for all my fellow pros I mean they love a TikTok just as much as I do so they're I think they're all very pro TikTok as well. Yeah, definitely. What do you have like coming up?

What's going on? Apart from obviously the tour, which is... Yeah, so we have a Strictly tour, which will take me to... Will that take me to June? I'm going to go home, see my family for a little bit, which will be really nice. Then we've got another Strictly season.

So that is is you know up and coming uh that will we kind of start that in july which is quite soon really when you think about it it is really um which then takes me to to like the end of the year to be honest strictly takes me all the way to the end of the year but i am um i'm really wanting to get into more acting and stuff like that so that's like I think my next adventure is is the acting world I'd love to do something with that so um put it out there I'm putting it out there I'm putting something to do with my acting I would I would just love to I'd love to try it it scares me but I love that but isn't that yeah exactly that's the most exciting part

um where can people find you? I have a YouTube channel. I do quite a lot of stuff on my YouTube channel, Diane Buswell. I also have Instagram, which I do quite a bit on, and also TikTok as well. And on the TV. Oh, and also on Strictly Talk Dancing, obviously. Yeah, BBC. Thank you so much for coming on. I feel like that was so powerful.

And I know that like there'll be a lot of girls out there that really oh I hope so I hope so because I think I I love the reason I wanted to talk about all this sort of stuff is um initially because it's quite scary and daunting to sort of open up about it because you almost have a bit of guilt of like that happening but I really want to to help other people because I'm sure it I mean a lot of people go through it and yeah for them to know that you can come out the other side and be very successful is I think a nice positive story so yeah she's thriving and also yeah I think no it's so powerful and I think yeah a lot of girls will

really resonate with your journey um and I certainly found it interesting thank you so much all right remember guys you can find us at gym girls locker room on all platforms and apart from that I'll see you in the next one