Strictly was terrifying, ex weather presenter Carol Kirkwood says

Former BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood says she found Strictly Come Dancing "terrifying" and would look for an escape route if she was first on. The 63-year-old, from Morar on the west coast of Scotland, said she did not say "yes" when asked on to the show immediately as she was afraid of looking silly. But on Sunday she told the Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, that doing the programme with dancer Pasha Kovalev was "amazing" and something she would never forget. Kirkwood admitted getting up close and personal with someone she had never met did not come naturally. She told the festival: "It's quite embarrassing to get that close... to somebody that you've only just met. We're not Love Island kids." Quizzed by former former BBC Breakfast co-host, Sian Williams, she said: "I'll never forget that nor regret doing it. It was a wonderful experience." When she was asked onto the show she hesitated, she said, adding: "I was scared of making a fool of myself. And then I thought, 'just get over yourself. You're not going to be in the West End'." She told the festival while she could not dance, her partner was so good he "took seconds" to learn his moves. Each week contestants' costum