Jan Ravens talks to Janet Tansley about Anton du Beke’s controversial comment, her many alter-egos and world hunger

PROOF that even the most nimble-footed can get bruised and battered on the dance floor, Jan Ravens reckons former Strictly partner Anton du Beke will be kicking himself about his recent controversial comments.

“What a stupid thing to do,” exclaims Jan about the dancer’s remarks to current partner Laila Rouass.

“It’s one of those things he is going to be kicking himself for for a long time.”

But Jan is full of praise for du Beke, with whom she danced three years ago on the hit BBC show.

She says: “We had a brilliant time and such a laugh at rehearsals, we were always laughing and joking.

“Anton said I was the funniest and rudest partner he’d had. We did have such an outrageous, giggly time. It was great, great fun.”

But while it was fun, it was also scary, too: “It was THE most terrifying thing,” she laughs. “The Saturday night broadcast, dancing in front of all those people, millions of people . . . I spent the entire time I was doing it with galloping butterflies.

“But I loved learning to dance. It was such an amazing experience and opportunity that I couldn’t say no to it.

“I was doing something at TV Centre the other day and I saw all the women, Laila Rouass, Natalie Cassidy and Co, and they were all so nervous and I thought ‘thank the Lord I’m over and done with it’.”

Jan is currently on tour with her one-woman show, A Funny Look on Impressions, which she ends with a performance at the Brindley Theatre, in Runcorn, on October 22.

“That’s the nearest show to home,” says Hoylake-born Jan, “and my mum’s going to be there so, hopefully, it will be good – I’m quite nervous.

“I love theatres like the Brindley because, whereas London audiences can seem quite blasé, at these theatres people seem so much more pleased to see you.”

Jan has been touring with the show since May: “I’m going up and down the country with my tour manager, Annie, and at first we started off in our Ford Galaxy like Thelma and Louise – now we’re more Marjorie and Bunty.

“It’s great having a mate there, though, because it means the good bits of touring are great and even the sh** bits are funny.”

Jan, best known for her work on Dead Ringers and her role opposite Noddy Holder in The Grimleys, says the show involves impressions, of course, but it’s quite personal and autobiographical, too.

“In some ways, it’s a look behind the scenes, what sort of person becomes an impressionist, how do you do them: even the audience gets to do them, which is good fun, we all do it together but no-one gets singled out.

“The impressions change all the time so the show is often different: earlier this year I was doing Joanna Lumley because she was in the news, but the main part of the show stays the same. I talk about what’s on in the news, everybody is still reeling from MPs’ expenses and politicians in general.

“Impressions give people a chance to see public figures from a different angle and have a laugh at them.”

On a more serious note, though, Jan spends much of her time working as an ambassador for the charity, ActionAid.

“I got involved with them a few years ago when there was a terrible earthquake in Pakistan and I sent a cheque to an appeal.

“Some clever person noticed my name and sent me an invitation to find out about the work of ambassadors, which I went to.

“It’s a brilliant campaigning charity which focuses not so much on sending stuff after a disaster as trying to prevent disasters in the first place.”

The mother-of-three is currently supporting its campaign to call on world leaders to a new global deal on hunger on World Food Day, today.

“The idea behind World Food Day is to make the world hunger free,” she says.

“We are encouraging people to lobby Gordon Brown, to send a message to him to attend The World Summit on Food Security in November, which could be fundamental for eradicating hunger.”

With an estimated increase of 105m hungry people in 2009, there are now 1.02bn malnourished people in the world, meaning that almost one sixth of all humanity is suffering from hunger.