Toyah Willcox reveals intense Strictly training regime has ‘shrunk her breasts’ and left her husband Robert Fripp feeling ‘very upset’

During the pandemic, Toyah Willcox danced in her kitchen in tight tops and sang songs.

And sometimes their weekly Lockdown Lunch became slightly risky when she went braless.

But now the singer, 66, says her intense Strictly training regime has caused her breasts to shrink – and her husband Robert Fripp, 78, couldn’t be more upset about it.

Toyah, who is paired with 42-year-old Neil Jones for this year’s series, also revealed she has lost half a stone as she struggles to eat enough to make up for the calories she burns.

She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I just can’t eat enough to keep my weight off.’

She added: ‘Robert is very angry about the disappearance of my top half. It has completely disappeared. I’m flat-chested, but I feel great.’

Married to musician Fripp since 1986, Toyah is the oldest contestant to take part in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing competition and this week danced a jive to Nutbush City Limits by Ike & Tina Turner.

She says he took part in Strictly Fun with her and Neil, who visited their home.

But she admits her busy schedule means she struggles to find time to get his meals on the table, so he now has to make them himself.

She said: ‘He’s loving being part of it, he’s fallen in love with the show. He cooks for himself, which is a big achievement in 38 years of marriage.”

There are only six female contestants on Strictly this year compared to nine men due to the scandal that has engulfed the show following allegations from Amanda Abbington that Giovanni Pernice bullied her during training, as well as Graziano Di Prima kicking his partner Zara McDermott.

Toyah admits that the allegations made her think more deeply about what her experience with the program would be like.

Asked if recent claims of ‘gross misconduct’ surrounding the program had made her reconsider signing up, the It’s A Mystery singer said: ‘It made me take what happened very seriously.’

“What happened last year is because this show is 100 percent all about dance.”

“And you have to step outside your own personal comfort zone. And that has always been very clear.’

“And I know for me what’s going on this year, I’ve been thinking, can I push myself past my own limitations.”

She concluded, “And for me it’s now or never. It’s that simple. That’s what made me commit to the show.”

Strictly’s 20th anniversary series has become somewhat tainted after the BBC show became embroiled in scandal in a year plagued by controversy.

And the BBC failed to address the scandal during the launch episode, despite the results of the misconduct investigation still pending.

It all started last October when actress Amanda, 50, unexpectedly quit the show before claiming her partner Giovanni, 33, was abusing her.

The Sherlock actress has made a series of accusations about Giovanni’s teaching methods, describing his behavior as ‘unnecessary, insulting, cruel and mean’. He strongly denies all allegations.

Giovanni was suspended while a BBC investigation into allegations made by Amanda and two other former celebrity partners continues.

With the report into his misconduct due to be released soon, Amanda is said to be deeply disappointed with BBC bosses over fears they are ‘protecting’ the dancer amid the bullying investigation.

There have been high-level meetings between BBC bosses as they navigated how to convey their findings, fearing the looming possibility of legal action from Amanda or Giovanni if ​​either were disappointed by the outcome.

After Giovanni, the show was hit by a new wave of scandal when Graziano was sacked in July for ‘kicking’ his partner Love Island star Zara.

Zara explained that she did not report the incidents at the time because she was “afraid” of backlash.

IInstead, it was junior production staff who came forward to talk about what they saw during the pro-dancer investigation Giovanni took place.

Zara told her followers that while much of her time on Strictly was “everything I could have dreamed of” in the training room with Graziano, there were “particular incidents that are incredibly distressing.”

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.