Darcey Bussell

I wanted to inspire every little girl who wants to be a dancer to fire their imagination about the joys of being on the stage.

Dance is a great way to express yourself.

For every dancer, no matter how amazing your career, there's more to life than ballet. Being adored by your audience, it's only part of the story.

For me, in my life, dyslexia has been a little bit of a blessing. It helped me find my strength and directed me towards what I really wanted to do.

I loved gymnastics, and my gymnastics teacher said ballet was essential to help my dance routines in competitions. I only really went because my friends were going as well. It wasn't this kind of hidden love. Then, slowly, my friends stopped going and I thought, 'I like this. I am going to stay.'

A teacher's not going to bother being tough on you for no reason it's when they're not paying you attention that you should worry.

Ever since I've given up dancing, every physiotherapist or Pilates teacher has said you have to keep moving. If I don't, I'll have a hundred times more injuries because you get weak areas on your body.

I've always been quite famous for my nose.

We only open a couple of presents on Christmas morning we're all about the stockings - we even get them for the dogs!

I've achieved everything I've wanted to achieve, so I'm not scared of failure. I never gave up, however bad the injuries got.