Strictly Come Dancing is set to welcome Kym Marsh to the 2022 series - and while the actress revealed that she was thrilled to be joining the show - she has a heartbreaking reason behind her decision to say yes.
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Chatting to HELLO! and other reporters before the show’s launch on Friday, Kym revealed that her dad Dave is terminally ill, explaining: "My dad is not very well with cancer and he’s not going to get better. I want to grab life and just do things while I can.
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"I've been asked over the years as well and it never felt like the time was right for me to do. Then this year it came up and I'm married to a military man as you know, and at the minute, he's based in the country, but next year, he might be deployed again. "
Kym previously confirmed that her dad’s cancer had spread back in June on BBC's Morning Live, saying: "The good news was although it has spread, it's not gone to any of his organs so they were able to offer him another form of treatment which is called radium."
Kym opened up about her dad Dave
Ahead of her Strictly debut, the star also opened up about her family’s reactions to the news, explaining that they were all delighted to hear that Kym would be taking part.
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"My aunties in particular love it," she explained. "They’re hopeful for who my dance partner might be. Because they don't know yet and they're like, 'Oh, I hope it's him. He's gorgeous.' They're like 70 and 80… my kids are really supportive and loving it all.
"My little grandson, he’s three, and he just loves dancing. He won't fully understand what I'm doing but he’ll be delighted that I'm dancing. I'm gonna try and get him down to some of the rehearsals."
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