BBC Strictly star Toyah Wilcox's tough childhood, major surgery and bullying woes

Singer and TV presenter Toyah Willcox can't hold to enactment connected her dancing shoes and spouse Neil Jones successful the contest. The prima has flooded superior adversity successful her life

Singer and TV presenter Toyah Willcox says grooming for her clip connected Strictly has been 'one of the happiest experiences of my life''.

The Eighties popular star, who is the oldest contestant competing successful this year's series, is dancing with Neil Jones and says it has been a 'long clip since she has felt this good looked after'.

"I met Neil and I was successful heaven," she told Claudia Winkleman astatine the programme's launch. "All of you are beauteous boys but not arsenic beauteous arsenic Neil!"

Toyah, 66, has enjoyed a palmy vocation successful the spotlight aft a hard upbringing. She grew up successful Birmingham and suffered superior health problems from commencement - she was calved with a twisted spine and developmental problems with her feet and hep sockets.

The star underwent country and physiotherapy astatine an aboriginal property and was bullied at schoolhouse for her disabilities. Her lisp was besides the crushed for taunting and conscionable similar she struggled with her schoolhouse mates, her narration with her parents wasn't easy.

"My parent was precise complex," Toyah told the Guardian. "She ne'er told the information of her past to us."

Toyah ever felt her nonrecreational dancer parent recovered her wanting. It is possibly 1 crushed she became a 'show-off' arsenic a youngster. "I realised I could entertain radical and it made radical similar me," she told the Guardian. "I was astir apt 7 erstwhile I realised it was the lone happening I could do, successful that I would not beryllium capable to endure this beingness unless I was a performer."

Toyah has suffered with crippling insomnia since she was conscionable 14, too. She said it was initially brought connected by the accent of schoolhouse exams. "I experienced the emblematic teenage accent that the unit of cramming for exams, and past sitting determination for hours connected extremity doing them brings," said the popstar successful an interrogation with the Mirror.

"During what felt similar a coagulated period of exam papers, I conscionable stopped sleeping. Once the signifier acceptable in, it became a wont and I ne'er truly addressed it due to the fact that backmost past nary 1 truly talked astir insomnia. You'd conscionable had a atrocious night's sleep."

The prima precocious wrote successful her blog about a near-death acquisition erstwhile filming BBC's Holiday connected a glider airfield successful Hereford. Her ordeal happened connected the greeting the decease of Princess Diana was announced.

"The director, frustrated astatine everyone being truthful saddened, mislaid their temper, lasting connected the glider landing portion and yelling: 'Who gives a f*** astir immoderate pistillate being killed successful a car clang and leaving 2 children behind, it happens each day!," she said. "I was filled with rage.

"I was truthful numb and traumatised astatine 1 constituent I turned and walked into the oncoming way of a speeding soundless glider astir to land, I astir got killed."

Toyah, who is joined to instrumentalist Robert Fripp, volition articulation 14 different celebrities to vie for the Glitterball Trophy. After overcoming superior adversity successful her life, we wouldn't stake against her.