Tess Daly on how she gets through each Strictly show with surprising bra confession

Tess Daly has been a mainstay on Strictly Come Dancing for nearly two decades, and the TV star has a secret weapon to keep her going during the fast-paced live shows

Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly once revealed her secret to maintaining high energy levels during the demanding live show. Speaking to Elle in 2012, the TV star, now 55, divulged that she keeps a 'special box' brimming with sweets, Lucozade, and other goodies to help her stay energised throughout the day.

But it's not just the sugary treats that give her a boost; Tess also revealed that she has a quirky ritual involving a Polo mint that she tucks into her bra that she claimed 'kept her going' throughout the show. Despite her flawless professionalism and poise on screen, Tess has experienced her share of on-air blunders, including a memorable incident with the very same Polo mint.

In an embarrassing revelation made in 2016 about the 2015 series of Strictly, which saw Jay McGuiness from The Wanted clinch victory alongside his dance partner Aliona Vilani, Tess recounted to The Express how she mistook the stone from her engagement ring for one of her hidden Polos. She described the moment she was chatting with co-host Claudia Winkleman at the start of the show when she felt something drop into her hand: "I thought it might have been a Polo [mint] I keep in the dress, but it was actually the stone from my engagement ring."

The engagement ring holds sentimental value as Vernon Kay proposed to her in 2002, a time he describes as "among the happiest times of his life."

"As I walked off set, about to cast it into the rubbish, I saw it was the diamond from the ring, the most valuable piece of jewellery I own. If it had fallen into all those sequins, I would never have found it! But it's live television, and the show must go on," the star revealed.

While participating in I'm A Celebrity in 2020, which took place at Gwrych Castle in Abergele, Wales, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Vernon fondly recalled his Christmas Day proposal to Tess at her family home in Stockport.

"On Christmas Day it was, it was the last present under the tree," he enthusiastically shared. "While she was so consumed by the ring, I was on one knee. She was like that [pulls shocked face]. It was awesome."

The couple exchanged vows a year later at St Mary's church in Vernon's hometown Horwich, Bolton. Tess dazzled in a Marina Adanou strapless A-line dress, while Vernon looked sharp in an Alexandre Savile Row white suit, spruced up with a pink shirt and vibrant tie.