As a trained dancer and competitor in Strictly Come Dancing’s Children In Need special, Maisie Smith is already one of the favourites to win this year’s show.
Paired with pro Gorka Marquez, bookmakers have even slashed her odds to 2-1.
But head judge Shirley Ballas had a sobering warning for the 19-year-old EastEnders actress if she hopes to lift the coveted Glitterball trophy.
“I know she won the special but if I was Maisie I wouldn’t take anything for granted because doing one dance is not like doing 10 weeks,” Shirley, 60, told The Sun.
“You’ve got to be there and you’ve got to be full on and you’ve got to go the whole nine yards.
“You could see the competitive spirit, you could feel it. These people all look like they were at the starting block, ready to move forward.”
Maisie has played Tiffany Butcher – the daughter of Bianca and Ricky Butcher – in the BBC One soap since she was six years old.
And she landed the part thanks to bags of confidence and a very sassy entrance.
(Image: BBC)
“I had so much confidence as I wasn’t 100 per cent sure what I was meant to be doing,” she told Inside Soap magazine of her fateful audition.
“I just knew that I had to learn some words – so when I went in there, I’d just memorised them.
“I just threw the script on the chair and said, ‘I don’t need that, I already know what I’m doing.’
“From that moment, I think they knew I was meant to be Tiff.”
Maisie was written out of the show after six years when her on-screen mum Patsy Palmer quit Walford and moved to Los Angeles.
(Image: BBC)
But she made a temporary comeback in November 2016 for half-sister Whitney’s wedding day before returning as a full-time character in January 2018.
“I can’t wait to show everyone how much Tiffany has changed,” Maisie teased ahead of her anticipated return.
Meanwhile, the fitness fanatic star has been hammering the gym in a bid to give herself the best chance possible of winning Strictly 2020.
Speaking to New! mag earlier this month, Maisie revealed: “I’ll be honest, I love going to the gym – it’s my happy place where I can work on myself.”
She went on: “But in lockdown it was closed and I didn’t do one home workout. I just couldn’t be bothered. I was tired. But as soon as the gyms opened again, I knew I was doing Strictly, and I’ve gone every single day to prepare.
“I know how hard it is and I want to be fit enough.”