Kym Marsh reveals heartbreaking reason she finally agreed to appear on Strictly
Kym Marsh has revealed the heartbreaking reason why she finally agreed to sign up to this year's Strictly Come Dancing.
The TV star, 46, has shared that a family member's terminal cancer diagnosis prompted her to appear on the hit BBC series.
She told The Sun On Sunday that she had been approached previously to do the show, but that the timing was never "quite right".
Then, last year, her father, 77, discovered that he had stage four incurable prostate cancer after delaying getting checked out during the pandemic.
The former actress and pop star said: "I’ve just decided to grab everything while I can.
"Without being melancholy, we don’t know how long we’ve got him for, so you’ve got to make the best of these situations.
Read more: Kym Marsh steps back from 'Morning Live' amid dad's cancer battle
“My dad’s diagnosis does change things. He’s been telling me for years, ‘You never know what’s around the corner, so grab things with both hands.’
She added that it "makes you look at things differently”, and so had been inspired to not delay in taking part in "the one show I always wanted to do".
Marsh rose to fame on reality series Popstars in 2001, winning a place in the band Hear'Say.
She starred in Coronation Street for 13 years before quitting in 2019, and then became the host of BBC Morning Live.
Read more: 'Strictly Come Dancing' 2022: Full celebrity line-up confirmed
The presenter is mother to David, 27, Emily, 25, and 11-year-old Polly, as well as son Archie who she lost at 19 weeks premature in 2009.
She married soldier husband Scott Ratcliff in a ceremony last year, after they met in 2018 through a mutual friend.
Watch: Who is Strictly's Kym Marsh?
