Doctor Who's Alex Kingston gifted her Strictly Come Dancing co-stars an unintentional innuendo that was cut from the pre-recorded show, with Alex's co-star, podcaster George Clarke, recalling the incident on the Useless Hotline podcast.
Alex, best known for playing River Song on Doctor Who and Dr Elizabeth Corday on ER, and George are among this year's celebrity contestants, with the show's pre-recorded launch episode airing on 20 September.
Recalling the hilarious moment on his podcast, George said that hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman asked questions to the contestants during the show, though not every response was kept in the final recording.
"So somebody came round beforehand backstage, just sort of speaking to us and they'd just be like: 'That's good so we're gonna get Tess and Claudia to ask a question if you could just sort of lead into that story,'" he explained.
Related: Best streaming services
"[Tess or Claudia later] teed up with 'So you, your family, your friends, they're big Strictly fans, right? How did you tell them that you were first doing it?' and then [Alex] led onto the story. But the way she delivered it was so good," he continued.
George proceeded to relay the story of how Alex reacted when she found out she'd be on Strictly.
What to Read Next
"She said, 'Well, I was actually at my friend's husband's birthday and I know he's a massive fan, so I thought I'd give him a little birthday gift, so I waited until everybody was asleep and then I snuck into his room and I told him I had a secret to give him. And then he was ... I could see him getting stiffer and stiffer' ... and we all just wet ourselves," George said.
"And she was like 'No! With fright, with fright!'"
George added that Alex tried to salvage her story for the cameras, but ended up "basically just [doubling] down on the bit".
Related: Best film and TV tours for 2025
"We were like, 'Not helping Alex!' And it was just so funny," he said.
"Claudia was wetting herself... It was so good but she was just mortified afterwards."
"She's so unintentionally funny just because of how sweet and lovely and nice she is," he added of his co-star.
This year's line-up also includes EastEnders' Balvinder Sopal, RuPaul's Drag Race star La Voix and Neighbours' Stefan Dennis, among others.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Interested in talking about Strictly? Visit our dedicated sub-forum
Read more Strictly news on our dedicated homepage
The new edition of Living Legends is here! Buy Gaga in newsagents or online, priced at just £8.99.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
