Poldark star Aidan Turner has vowed never to show off his pecs on Strictly Come Dancing, saying he “can’t stand” the BBC One show.
The Irish actor, 33, who has secured heartthrob status in his role as Ross Poldark, took up ballroom and Latin American dancing at the age of six and represented his country for 10 years.
Asked if he watched Strictly, he replied: “No. I hate it. God, I hate watching it now, I can’t stand it really.”
He told Radio Times the much-loved BBC show is “not about dancing … the dancing is rubbish”.
Asked whether producers had ever asked him to join, he replied: “I don’t know if I’m eligible because I used to compete at an amateur level.
“I think you need to be, like, a raw beginner. They haven’t asked me, no.
“And just for the record, I wouldn’t do it.”
The third series of BBC drama Poldark is about to air, but Turner said his sex symbol status was not of interest in his family home.
“It’s never mentioned, strangely enough…They don’t say anything. We don’t keep photographs or posters of my jobs in the house…
“I mean, we watch the shows. My mum’s obviously a big fan, but there’s no shrines to Aidan Turner,” he said.
And while Turner is an object of affection for many women, he suggested that he does not think of himself as a “real man”.
“My dad is one of the old stock. He can do anything – fix a vintage car, do plumbing, lay flooring. He’s one of those real men, you know? They’re a dying breed,” he told the magazine.
Turner has previously told how he put on weight after filming the second series of the Cornish-set saga.
On returning to film the third instalment, he said: “I showed up a few pounds too heavy and I think they had to split the back of the waistcoat… It was too tight around here (his stomach) and not tight enough up here (his upper body).
“His (Poldark’s) physicality is very much a part of who he is. It’s something I can’t get too lazy about. It’s boring but I have to do it.”
He said his relationship with his horse in the drama “has matured”.
“I talk to him all the time.
“I rarely use any other horses unless Seamus isn’t around for some reason, (because) I understand how he works and I guess he understands how I work.”
