Darcey steps back into judging shoes

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s the view of Strictly Come Dancing bosses.

With last year’s series having wiped the floor with The X Factor, with a ratings gap of up to four million, the BBC’s Saturday- night sensation’s aiming to be bigger and better for 2013.

It’ll certainly be bigger, with 15, rather than 14, celebs in the line-up and another fine mix just secured.

Host Bruce Forsyth told The Weekly News he’d evaluate a return to the show, while on a winter Caribbean break.

And ever-sprightly Brucie obviously came back refreshed and raring to go for this, the 11th, series.

Unlike The X Factor, who’ve rung the changes with Sharon Osbourne returning in the place of ousted Tulisa, Strictly’s panel is reassuringly the same.

That means Darcey Bussell is happily back alongside ever-excitable Bruno Tonioli, head judge Len Goodman and acid-tongued Craig Revel Horwood.

But that seemed an unlikely prospect right at the start of last year’s run when she made a first impression that many reckoned was as Craig Revel Horwood might have put it a “di-sah-ster”.

She seemingly couldn’t finish a sentence without a yuppie “yah”.

“Weirdly, I didn’t even know that I said ‘yah’ all the time,” Darcy revealed, insisting she was simply looking to ensure the celebs understood her advice.

“As the nerves went, the ‘yahs’ went as well.”

In fact, they’d become such an identifiable talking point, she says show bosses wanted her to bring them back.

She admits she knew “the public would either totally love me or hate me”.

But anyone reckoning the 44-year-old mum-of-two would have buckled under the torrent of criticism would have been severely underestimating the steel beneath the English rose exterior.

She spent 20 years at the top of her profession as one of the greatest ballerinas Britain has ever produced.

But only after she refused to quit when, aged just 10, she was told at the Royal Ballet School that she didn’t have the mentality and wasn’t strong enough.

Darcey reckons the punishing pounding of ballet aged her body by 10 years.

She had two ankle operations and major reconstructive knee surgery.

It hasn’t shown on screen, with London-born Darcey looking stunning.

And not dancing for a living means she’s been able to ease up and enjoy more of the pleasures of life.

Those include some additional glasses of red wine and champagne but she says she

still eats healthily, particularly as a good example to 11-year-old Phoebe and Zoe, eight.

Four new dancers have joined the show, and the fresh arrivals mean a more loved-up Strictly than ever.

Kevin Clifton, Anya Garnis, Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec are the newbies.

Janette and Aljaz are a couple in real life and Grimsby-born Kevin’s the fianc of sultry Karen Hauer, who joined last year and partnered Nicky Byrne.

James and Ola Jordan make it a hat-trick of romantically-involved dancers.

After the pairings are revealed on Saturday’s show, the celebs get a few weeks’ practice before the series returns for its proper run.