My father is Hungarian and moved to Britain during the uprising, and my Spanish mum comes from Galicia; they moved here at the end of the Fifties.
My perfect morning is spent drinking coffee, eating porridge and reading the paper at a local cafe.
When you dance together, there's a fabulous interaction. It's quite intimate. You're touching your partner, leading them. Learning how to behave in that person's proximity is a skill. I love it. I can't imagine tiring of it.
The Ritz in London has an old-fashioned charm, with waiters wearing tails and white gloves. The dining room is exquisite, with immaculate service and ornate details.
Give up smoking. Don't get so fat. So much illness is self-induced - which I can't stand. And I'm not a good nursemaid. Don't call me if you're ill.
My favourite dance is the Foxtrot. It's a proper dance with proper music. It has class.
I always enjoy the process, meeting somebody new and spending time with them and becoming friends with them. That has always been the joy of 'Strictly' for me, so I enjoy every year.
I've been playing golf as long as I've been dancing, since I was 13 or 14. I play off six. I like to get out on a golf course as often as I can.
As soon as I left school at 16, I worked in a factory making aircraft components.
I'm busier than ever and it's led to new opportunities. But I've never worried about being rich or famous - for me, it's all about the dancing.
I think cookery shows have become so sophisticated, and everyone's so marvellous at it, but there are people like me who aren't into the cooking malarkey, who still don't know how to boil an egg for three minutes.
When I'm dancing with any woman, I immediately get rid of intimacy barriers. I just give her a big hug and crack on.
You can't talk about yourself in the third party - that makes you a lunatic!
I've become a produce snob. I like to eat food that's in season.
I like to get up and get out. Otherwise you end up kicking about, and it's easy to flick the telly on; then before you know it, it is 11 A.M. and you haven't done anything.
Ballroom is two people dancing together to music, touching in perfect harmony.
I went professional with my partner, Erin Boag, 11 years ago, and we had success competing round the world, but appearing on 'Strictly' has changed my life.
My only drive was to be the best dancer in the world, but I never won the world championship.
I just like to sit and admire my garden; it's so well kept by my gardener and my girlfriend.
I look better with a tan, but I've never gone the fake route. I don't need to - I have good foreign genes: half Spanish, half Hungarian.
