Natasha Kaplinsky, 46, competed on Strictly Come Dancing with professional partner Brendan Cole, 43, in the first series in 2004.
The pair ended up being crowned victorious, and became the first couple to lift the Glitterball trophy.
Speaking about the current series, Natasha said she was sad to see Darcey Bussell leave the show as a judge.
“Darcey bought so much glamour, authority and soft gentle enthusiasm to the programme,” the Strictly winner told Express.co.uk.
She added: “It’s going to be a huge loss.”
Natasha praised Darcey and fellow judge Shirley Ballas together and said she looked forward to seeing them all glammed up every weekend.
She continued: “It’s always wonderful to see her and Shirley [Ballas] looking so beautiful every Saturday and I think what was so special about Darcey was she obviously had just mountains of knowledge.
“You really believed I the feedback she gave.”
Natasha admitted she’s unsure who should replace the retired ballerina, but has faith in the BBC One bosses.
“When Shirley Ballas came in, I’m sure in the dancing community she was prominent, but we didn’t know her,” she divulged.
“But look what an absolute superstar she is!”
She said: “Who knows who will come up and take over.”
Craig Revel Horwood recently spoke about whether he knew would be replacing Darcey on This Morning this week.
He said: “They haven’t told me, but they have told me that it is someone that can actually dance. So that’s good.
“And also, it needs to be someone opinionated… I love Anton, he would be great.
“Any of the ex-dancers would be fantastic, but I don’t know is the honest truth. They won’t tell me because my gob’s too big!”
Elsewhere, Natasha spoke about her time on the show and admitted it was a “risk” to be on it as nobody knew how the show was going to be perceived.
The mother-of-one spilled: “At that time, nobody knew whether it would be successful so everyone thought it was a big risk.”
Recalling what it was like juggling work and dancing on the show, she said: “I just started out at the BBC doing BBC Breakfast, getting up at twenty past three every morning.
“I was trying to be taken seriously but then I was donning a little sequinned number strutting my stuff on the dance floor. It felt like the wrong thing to be doing but it took off!”
Natasha recently worked with the Department for Education on the government’s new campaign to encourage parents to interact more with their children.
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