Top 104 Quotes & Sayings by Darcey Bussell

Keeping off wheat helps my energy levels.

I need help to ensure I grow old gracefully! So now I always apply moisturiser and foundation with an SPF, to protect my skin from the sun.

Dancing has always been a passion for me, one that I will probably never be rid of.

I didn't worry too much about staying in shape once I'd stopped dancing. You get to the point where you just burn out and have to give your body a chance to heal.

I do a Zumba class at least twice a week, which entertains me and keeps me fit, and I have two dogs that I walk regularly.

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

If I start something, I have to finish it. I know that's annoying - it drives my husband mad - but even if something's not going my way, I have to see it through.

I need to have dark chocolate in the cupboard - Green & Black's is good, but any will do.

I wore myself out physically and mentally over my career, and I couldn't be there for my daughters in ways I should have been.

Weirdly, I didn't even know that I said 'yah' all the time.

It is entertainment; we mustn't forget that. Dance is entertainment. You can have the best technicians in the world, but they'll be boring to watch. It has to be about entertainment as well, but it's quality, grace.

If I had a caterer that lived at home, it would be fabulous!

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

This perception that we can be stars without any work and just appear is rubbish.

When I started on 'Strictly,' I was terrified. Live television seemed like the most daunting thing in the world.

Looking after myself is something I probably have to be much more conscious of than the average person.

My mum sent me to ballet from the age of five, not because I was that into it but because I had really knock knees.

One thing I've learned from 'Strictly' is timing and the craft of the talk.

When I coach dancers, I always like to get on the dance floor with them or describe something by showing them.

When I was at the Royal Ballet School, I remember receiving my first eyeshadow palette from Marks & Spencer as a gift. It sparked my interest in beauty, which peaked when I became more involved in theatre and got to experience so many stunning image transformations to suit different productions.

I've got that personality where I've always been determined. As a dancer, I was constantly improving and perfecting. I guess it's innate.

I am not a big vitamin-taker. I have vitamin C during the winter, but eating lots of fruit and veg does the trick.

Dancers are working their bodies just like a marathon runner would, and you have to eat to make it through a three-hour performance. Dancers put their bodies through incredible strain.

If you have enough ambition, you can create talent!

I loved gymnastics, and my gymnastics teacher said ballet was essential to help my dance routines in competitions. I only really went because my friends were going as well. It wasn't this kind of hidden love. Then, slowly, my friends stopped going and I thought, 'I like this. I am going to stay.'

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 love chocolate, but it's bad.

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 dye my hair, and I use teeth whitening strips. Unless I burnt myself or damaged my skin, I wouldn't have cosmetic surgery.

I would love more children, but no. I'm very lucky to have had my two.

I did ballet from the age of five, but what I loved was my gymnastics. I kept the ballet going because of the gymnastics, then found I was going to be too tall.

The best thing is to lie in a warm Epsom salts bath for 15 minutes and then go straight to bed. You will sleep really well afterwards.

The Royal Academy of Dance is an institution that trains to a very high standard.

I absolutely loved learning how to do stage make-up at 16: it was so interesting to learn all about what you can do with make-up, such as contouring or shadowing eyes. We had a lot of fun.

I don't get much sleep, so I have really bad bags under my eyes.

There are always younger and better dancers fighting to get your place. You get worn down by the fight to try to stay at the top.

I never imagined I'd be a presenter on television, but I'm happy to put myself out of my comfort zone.

My 'new' knee now feels like a bionic knee compared with my old one.

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.

Over the years, I've had two ankle operations, torn my hamstring, had my hip resurfaced, and snapped the anterior cruciate ligament in my knee.

I've come to realise that being on 'Strictly' is like being in another theatre company and performing a live production.

Since finishing my professional dancing career, I've been conscious of not letting myself go.

I worked very hard to be a diva. But it never worked.

Everything is not beautiful at the ballet. It's tough.

The jogging machine makes me go insane with boredom.

I do feel blessed to have small ears - I've never felt self-conscious when my hair is swept back. My feet are a different story - I grew up being painfully aware of them because they are so long.

When I was a teenager, I used to watch the 'Making Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'' video and try to follow the steps and do the 'Thriller' moves in my bedroom. That was the most incredible dance sequence.

I don't see anything negative about dance. It is so good for you, mentally and physically, and so for me to promote it is the easiest thing to do.

You tend to regret the things you haven't done.

As a little girl, I didn't dream of being a ballet dancer; I dreamt of being a movie star like Ginger Rogers and dancing with Fred Astaire. I used to watch the Sunday double-bills on TV and Iong to be part of what seemed a perfect Disneyland world. Astaire was a genius.

I was incredibly supple and did gymnastics as well. So half of my injuries are because I am over-supple and the joints could always go that little bit further. But I was happy to push, and I have no regrets. That is important to say.

I've achieved everything I've wanted to achieve, so I'm not scared of failure. I never gave up, however bad the injuries got.

I know some people aspire to a ballerina's body, but I looked forward to feeling more feminine.

Being on stage taught me how to apply eyeliner.

Ever since I've given up dancing, every physiotherapist or Pilates teacher has said you have to keep moving. If I don't, I'll have a hundred times more injuries because you get weak areas on your body.

Life is short, so go for things you enjoy.

The orthopaedic surgeon said that if ever I had hip or groin pain, I should rest until the pain went. However, resting is not part of a dancer's life - so I just danced through the pain.

I've always been quite famous for my nose.

In the dance world, it has to be in your genetic make-up - your body has to suit the training.

Being a ballerina can be a very unnatural life, especially after you've had children.