Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas, 59, joined the BBC show as Len Goodman’s replacement in 2017.
While the dancing professional was all smiles for the camera, the mother-of-one admitted she was conscious of her appearance while sat next to Dame Darcey Bussell, 50.
She told the Daily Mail: “When I first went on Strictly I had a little phase at the beginning, you know, when I was sat next to this really beautiful lady, Darcey Bussell – this ballerina, this Snow White beauty – that I stopped eating until I looked at myself and realised I looked so gaunt.”
Shirley made the admission as she reflected on the bullying she faced when growing up on a housing estate.
She said: “There was a lot of bullying that happened on the estate. I had crooked teeth, which people would remind me of and my hair was thin.”
Recalling one encounter with a bully, she added: “One girl would rib me constantly. She’d say, ‘Why are you doing that [dancing]? You can’t dance. You’ll never amount to anything.’
“One day she waited for me on the field to knock the living daylights out of me. I would stay in class as long as I could. Then, well, I tried my hardest to defend myself.
“I stored it [the bullying] in a rucksack on my back. My whole life I’ve never felt, as a female, I was up to scratch.”
Earlier this year, Darcey left the panel after seven years ahead of the new series which returned last month.
The professional ballerina was replaced by Motsi Mabuse, the sister of Strictly dancer Oti Mabuse.
Earlier this week, Shirley Ballas shared a picture of herself on a drip following a tough week.
Her post comes after she received death threats following the shock elimination of Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell from the show.
Judges Shirley, Motsi, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli all chose to send home Dianne and Dev after their dance-off with Emma Weymouth and Aljaž Škorjanec.
The head judge told her fans she had “massive trolling” after the show, which was recognised by a Twitter user.
The Twitter user wrote: “Please sort your fans out @dbuzz6589 & @Joe_Sugg.
“I get why people are upset & I don’t think it was @dev_101’s time to go.
“But sending vile abusive tweets & death threats to @ShirleyBallas is totally out of order. Imagine if it was a member of your family on the receiving end.”
Dianne quickly responded to the tweet, saying: “Guys this is terrible you can not be bullying like this.
“It’s awful and really upsets me to hear this. It’s simply not ok and should never happen!”
Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 6.40pm on BBC One.
