Waking The Dead actress Sue Johnston has revealed that she has turned down the chance to appear on Strictly Come Dancing twice already. She added that she may have done it when she was ten years younger.

“If it had been on 10 years ago, I would have done it,” Sue told The Mirror. “They’ve asked me twice and I said no – I don’t want to be the old wrinkly tottering around the dancefloor.

“I’d have to keep saying, ‘No, Brendan! Don’t put my leg up there – I’ve got a bad back!’

“But I envy Lynda Bellingham for giving it a go, she’s very courageous. If I did it, I’d be gone in the first week.”

Sue also admitted that she is baffled by Arlene’s sacking from the show. She said:

“I don’t get why Arlene was sacked. She was fantastic. Everyone is denying the ageism thing, they’re falling over themselves with explanations about why they sacked her.

“But when you look at the other judges – the three men – you wonder why Arlene?

“She’s a lovely, intelligent woman. She knows exactly what she’s talking about.

“I don’t want to be awful about Alesha. She’s watchable and sexy and she was fantastic when she danced on the show.

“But I want to know the real reason they got rid of Arlene. She loved that job and was good at it. It must have come as a bolt out of the blue.”