FIONA Phillips has reignited her feud with Strictly’s Brendan Cole as she reveals regret over doing the show.
The former GMTV host, 60, slammed the professional dancer as a “rough old taskmaster” as she looks back on doing the show in 2005.
“I should never have done it”, Fiona admitted to the Mirror.
“Even as a teenager I hated getting on the dance floor.
“I felt so self-conscious, but I thought, ‘I will have a professional dancer and it’s a nice programme’.
“But Brendan is a rough old taskmaster and really wanted to be number one or nothing. I just wasn’t very good.
“I became a comedy type figure. I’m not glad I did it, but it was an experience.”
Brendan was axed from Strictly in 2018 when the BBC chose not to renew his contract.
He broke down on ITV’s Lorraine show after revealing his shock.
Last year Fiona claimed it was “karma”.
“Brendan was a real bugger, actually,” Fiona told the Daily Star.
“He wasn’t very nice. He was really naughty.
“He’s not on the show now. Karma indeed. It works its way every time.”
Fiona bravely admitted she was suffering from a crippling bout of depression when she joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2005.
She was getting up early every day to work on GMTV and juggling her high-pressure job with looking after her kids and her sick parents alongside training for the show.
Fiona revealed her former morning TV partner Eamonn Holmes knew about her illness and urged her to get help, but she was in denial.
The 59-year-old was kicked out in week four and now regrets ever signing up.
Since leaving breakfast TV she has worked on a number of successful documentaries including The Truth About Stress on BBC1.
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Meanwhile Brendan attempted to become a singer on The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019 but was laughed off stage.
He formed a boyband with ex Hollyoaks star Jeremy Edwards but they stormed off stage after judges were left unimpressed by their performance.
During his time on Strictly, Brendan famously split from his dancer fiancée Camilla Dallerup after he winning the first series with celebrity partner Natasha Kaplinsky in 2004.
Brendan – who has always denied an affair with newsreader Natasha, 46 – is now happily married to former model Zoe Hobbs, 36.