Australian ballroom dancing professional Natalie Lowe was encouraged by her neighbours to start ballroom dancing when she was only three. Five years later she was representing her country and dancing with her brother Glenn in adult competitions. Since then she has been crowned the Australian Professional New Vogue Champion every year since 2005 and appeared in five series of the Australian equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing With The Stars.

Lowe joined the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2009 and partnered Hollyoaks’s Ricky Whittle. Judge Len Goodman described the couple as potentially the most formidable duo the show had ever seen, but they eventually finished second after losing to Ola Jordan and the BBC presenter Chris Hollins.

She is currently on tour with Strictly Come Dancing The Professionals, which is at the Brighton Centre from Thursday, April, 29 to Sunday, May 2.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday shows 7.30pm, Sunday 6.30pm, Saturday and Sunday matinee 2.30pm, tickets £20.50 to £42.40. Call 0844 847 1515.

Is there a performer who made you think “I want to do that"?

Cyd Charisse was a classy, dynamic, strong, confident and very womanly woman with a unique style and edge about her. I want to portray similarities in my dancing, though I have never wanted to copy what she does; I just enjoy what she stands for. Nowadays Beyoncé portrays that similar style. She has her own identity and I love that she commits herself 100% and keeps reinventing herself. There is nothing that woman can’t do.

What is your favourite dance... and why?

The waltz is my favourite. When you see a waltz danced professionally it can take you away from reality. You get caught up in it and that’s a beautiful thing. The feeling I get when I dance the waltz is indescribable. I want the audience to join me in my story and to connect with it. There are so many elements to ballroom dancing that make it special. Becoming one with the music, your partner, yourself and the audience is a pretty powerful thing.

Do you remember the first record you bought – what was it, and where did you buy it?

I was with my mum, I wanted to have singing lessons and the teacher asked me to choose two songs I would like to sing.

I ended up buying Under The Boardwalk by Bette Midler and Do The Locomotion by Kylie Minogue. I also never forget the first CD I had given to me, which I was so excited about. I was at a school disco and they were giving away CDs to the kids that really got up and gave it all they had on the dancefloor. The next thing I know, I have the single of Wham’s Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. I still remember the cover so clearly. Ahh, those were the days...

Tell us about any guilty pleasures lurking in your CD or film collections – something you know is a bit naff but you can’t help yourself.

I am a huge fan of Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers and Barbra Streisand. One of the best voices ever is Australian artist John Farnham’s. I like the Beach Boys too and I can’t stop listening to the Jersey Boys soundtrack at the minute.

Favourite film...and why?

I will always pick up a true story. I am not a fan of sci-fi movies or anything unrealistic that I can’t relate to. Some of my favourites are Man Of Honour, Hotel Rwanda, Pearl Harbour, Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Good Morning Vietnam, Into The Wild and The Pursuit Of Happyness. Oh, and how can I forget the one and only Dirty Dancing and The Notebook, which are my all-time favourites.

Which TV programme couldn’t you live without?

I don’t watch much TV but when I get a chance to stop and sit down I find myself drawn to cooking shows such as Ready Steady Cook or My Restaurant Rules. I love to cook and I always want to learn new dishes and tips to help me in the kitchen. Cooking for me is a luxury as I have lived in hotel rooms for the last eight months.

I don’t have access to a kitchen, so when I do, I cook up a storm!

What’s your favourite album and why?

I can’t just give you one. I love music so much – it really is my life. Stevie Wonder’s Greatest Hits is the best album ever. It is just one hit after another, very soulful. Any album by Kings Of Leon is great. I love everything about their music.

I really like 30 Seconds To Mars and there are two Australian bands who I think are really going to be huge in the future: The Butterfly Effect, whose album is called Imago, and Cog, whose album is called Sharing Spaces.

Is there a song or individual piece of music you always come back to?

Over The Rainbow by Eva Cassidy is a very important song in my life for many reasons.

What are you reading at the moment?

I’m reading a travel book at the moment.

I’ll be having a couple of weeks off after The Professionals Tour ends and I’m planning to travel around Europe. Coming from Australia, which is so far from some of the best cities in the world, I am going to make the most of my time here.

What’s your favourite book and why?

Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin which is a story of courage, commitment, perseverance, blood, sweat and tears.

I relate to this book. Not in my upbringing because I have an amazing family who supported me all the way, but Mao had so many mountains to climb and he just kept picking himself up and made it in the end. How rewarding. No dream is too big for him. The story shows the only person stopping you from getting ahead is yourself.

Is there a live music experience that stays in your memory?

Performing with Shirley Bassey would be a highlight for me. I watched her in rehearsal and she was a class act. The second she walked in the room everyone stopped and was won over by her presence and voice.