EastEnders' Tameka Empsom "in it to win it" on Strictly 2016
鈥業t鈥檚 like 鈥榝ame! I鈥檓 gonna live forever!鈥� but for real鈥� - Tameka Empson
She鈥檚 actually quite a shy reserved person, honestly!
EastEnders star Tameka Empsom may be the funniest lady in this year's series (sorry Lesley), but she's not on the show to be one of this year's comedy contestants.
She is paired with new professional dancer Gorka Marquez on the show and wowed judges and audiences with her Paso Doble in week one.
"I see the glitterball, i'm not going to lie," she told Nick Grimshaw when she stopped by Radio 1 Breakfast. "I see it quite close, not from a distance."
Watch Tamaka's Paso Doble
She's so confident in her skills on the dancefloor, she doesn't see her fellow contestants as competition, she's gunning for the pros.
"I think Oti [Mabuse] is the main competition," she told Nick. "I'm in it to win it. Hashtag Tamorka."
We're not sure that one's going to fly.
Tameka is dancing with "Gorka the corker"
She says she is thrilled to have been paired with the newcomer on this year's show and compares working with him to blind dating (which she seems to be enjoying).
"I am so lucky to have Gorka. He's a great guy, great personality, he's patient and he knows his stuff," she said.
"It's always good to go to work and see Gorka the corker."
'Gorka the corker'? That works.
But she doesn't like the rehearsal footage...
Despite a perfect performance on the show and a successful acting career, Tameka did admit her one insecurity - she hates the rehearsal footage the show screens before the stars perform.
"I don't like the sound of my voice. When i'm in rehearsals, i'm rehearsing. It's like a scene from Fame," she said.
"The worst bit for me is standing on the stairs and hearing the VT."
"I don't think about the millions and millions of people because if I did, I wouldn't be able to do it."
