Strictly's Zara McDermott has very generous plan to spoil family when show ends
Zara McDermott made Strictly Come Dancing history this year as the first former Love Island star to be cast on the show – and she admits training for the BBC extravaganza has taken over her life.
The documentary presenter has jumped headfirst into the Strictly experience since training started back in September. She’s embraced the early morning starts, hours of rehearsals every day and evenings spent watching critiques from professional partner Graziano Di Prima. But now Zara, 26, is looking ahead to when she can finally relax – and she already has some holidays in mind.
“Next year, I’m taking my mum, my dad and my brother to Disney World in Florida,” she says, adding, “I would also love to go to Sicily and celebrate with Graziano’s family – that honestly would be my dream because Graziano is just the most amazing person in the world. Strictly, for someone like him and his family, was so out of reach.”
Zara McDermott is the first Love Island star to be cast on Strictly (OK! Magazine / Justin Polkey)
Zara is partnered up with Graziano Di Prima (OK! Magazine / Justin Polkey)The star rose to fame on ITV2 dating show Love Island in 2018, but has since carved out a career fronting BBC documentaries before she signed up to Strictly. With her stunning looks and supermodel figure, you might assume Zara would be a natural on the dance floor, however she suffered with self-esteem issues as a child, and has always felt physically self-conscious.
“I’ve always been that uncoordinated, lanky person who doesn’t look smooth when they move,” she says. “I even remember feeling it at school, dancing with my friends. I must have been 10. I never felt confident in my own skin when doing any kind of movement.” This made her push herself even harder, with Graziano saying that she has been “the perfect student” in the dance studio. “She never stops, she never gives up,” he laughs.
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Zara lives with her boyfriend and former Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson, who she’s been dating since 2019. But have the quicksteps and sambas put a strain on their romance? “I feel like there’s just a level of understanding from every side that Strictly is all-encompassing, and it has to be if you want to do well in the competition,” she explains. “You have to put the hours into training. You have to be really dedicated. Sam has been amazing, I show him videos and he watches with me.”
Zara says Sam, who hosted a Channel 4 documentary about his ADHD diagnosis last year, is fully supportive of her dancing dreams.I think relationships are not always completely balanced,” she says. “Sometimes someone needs a bit more support, sometimes the other one does – that’s how I see relationships in general, to be honest. It’s all about communication. You only get to do Strictly once!”
Sam hasn’t been in the audience every single week – but only because Zara has wanted to share her two guest tickets around. “I honestly wanted everyone I love to come and watch me, people have been waiting for these Strictly tickets for years and years!” "Also, she got my guest tickets because I don’t have family over here,” Graziano reveals. “For me, the most important thing is that Sam came to watch her, or her family.”
Graziano has been a professional dancer with Strictly since 2018, however his family have only been able to watch him live one time. “They came to watch me once, at my first show,” Graziano adds. “They had to move my dad out of the audience because he wouldn’t stop crying.”
Zara and Sam met after chatting on Instagram (INSTAGRAM)
Zara believes she "manifested" being paired with him on Strictly (zara_mcdermott/Instagram)Although Zara has been invested in rehearsals over the past few months, Sam keeps himself busy. “He honestly works so much – he works all day and then has his radio show in the evenings. He’s a busy boy, he doesn’t need me to occupy him,” she giggles. “Rehearsing with him was a no-go from the start because he doesn’t know the steps but we always send him and Graziano’s wife Giada [Lini]videos every day to keep them updated on what we’re doing and showing them the progress. Sam is really sweet and supportive.”
As for Graziano, his pro dancer wife Giada is also busy training Italian celebs. “My wife is in Rome and she does the same show in Italy,” he says.Zara adds, “We’re talking to Giada all through the day as well; we video call her.” Outside of training, the two couples have grown close. “She’s part of my family,” Graziano says of Zara. “She sends more messages to my wife than me.”
“The other day, Graziano texted, ‘Where are you?’ and I was like, ‘I’m on the phone to Giada – soz!’” Zara chuckles. “We’re part of each other’s families and each other’s lives, and I think we will be for the foreseeable. You build such a close bond and partnership, you get to know each other so quickly that it’s like a really unbreakable bond.”
Would Sam be tempted to do the show next year? “I don’t think so, to be honest,” Zara grins. “He’s a great supporter but he’s the kind of person who likes to be floating around lots of different jobs throughout the day. Starting from scratch is hard and you need to have the right mentality for it – but he’d be great if he did do it!”
Speaking about her time on the show, Zara tells us why she believes Graziano is the perfect dance partner. “To be able to learn to dance with Graz, who is my favourite pro on Strictly, is amazing,” she says. “I manifested being paired with him, I’d already thought about our team name – Graziara.”
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When Zara isn’t dancing, you’ll find her filming TikTok videos, eating or in the bath. “I get myself a takeaway. Every night it’s different. My favourite is sushi – although Sam got food poisoning really badly for three days so that’s banned in the house. He can’t even look at it.
“I’d have a bath, watch our rehearsal videos back 500,000 times and then listen to some meditation to calm down before bed, so my brain isn’t racing about steps. It’s a simple life I lead.”
Throughout her Strictly journey, Zara has tried not to compare herself to the others. “What does that do for your mindset? What’s that going to do for my self-confidence and self-esteem? Everyone is at different levels and I know I’m down here,” she says. “All I can look at is how I can be the best I possibly can be. Graz says to me, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’”
With Zara throwing herself into all things ballroom and Latin, she’s come a long way from her reality TV roots. “I recognise that’s where I got my platform from initially, but I’m grateful that the casting team saw that I’m more than just a Love Island contestant. My dream is to be a documentary maker forever.
“Love Island’s not something I’m ashamed of – I love the show – but it feels like a lifetime ago. It feels like it’s a different time in my life.” And once Strictly is over, she’ll be returning to her documentary-making world.
“That’s my passion and my full-time job,” she says. Before Strictly, I’d just got back from filming two projects in the US and my series about Ibiza so my headspace was literally that. I’ve not really had any breathing space to be able to think about which topics I want to do next.
“But I love doing documentaries around issues that affect young people, especially issues around women, so that’s probably going to be my line of continuation.”
Although Zara will go back to her day job when the show finishes, Strictly has changed her immensely. “I think your confidence is completely different in terms of how much you’ve grown,” Graziano says. “I feel like if you go out on that dance floor and you feel unsure of yourself, you’ve already lost,” Zara adds.
“So you’ve got to feel confident from literally the first second you walk on.” What she knows for sure is that she won’t stop dancing. “I’m sure Graziano is going to make sure I keep dancing – I might get back on stage with him, I’d love to do that,” she says.
Zara adds, “It would be really fun to do another TV project together. Graz has become my best friend so quickly, he’s going to be a big part of my life forever. When you really connect with someone in that capacity, you definitely have to embrace it. For me, this is never just about dancing – I want to walk away with a friend and with someone who’s a part of my life.”
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