Strictly Come Dancing's Victoria Pendleton Reveals She Used To Self Harm

BBC Pictures

Her outstanding sporting achievement in the Velodrome at the London 2012 Olympic games made the country very proud, but the Olympic champion, who is about to grace the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor, has revealed that she went through a low point in the early stages of her cycling career which resulted in her self harming.

Opening up about the emotional struggle she went through on BBC Breakfast, the sports star revealed that the British cycling psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters, helped her through her low period.

The star, who won both gold and silver medals at the games, commented: "I went through a short period where I was very low, I felt unworthy.  People were investing so much time into me, and into something where I didn't think I'd ever be.

"I did self-harm, I felt very low. Without Steve I wouldn't have achieved what I have in my career."

Strictly Come Dancing's Victoria Pendleton Reveals She Used To Self Harm

We can't wait to see Victoria on the show! (BBC Pictures)

Speaking about her romance with cycling coach Scott Gardner, which caused controversy amongst those in the team, Victoria, who his set to marry him soon, added:

"Scott wasn't my coach, he was part of the team, but it was seen as a conflict of interest and it is frowned upon. I don't regret my decision for pursuing it. Before we went out on a date, he accepted the fact that he had to leave but people didn't stop being bitter about it.

"He was brought back on board as my personal coach, so there was a lot of reconciliation within the team. But there was a short period where people felt uncomfortable with it."

Despite not being scared about beating athletes, Victoria revealed that she is scared about her impending appearance on the hit BBC show.

She admitted: "It's pretty scary, we're all pretending to dance [so far] because we didn't have time to know what we're doing [on the launch show]. It's very challenging, physically not so much but my feet don't bend the way they're supposed to after years of cycling.

"I'm hoping that I'll wake up one morning and I'll be 'Yes, I remember it now!"

Good luck Victoria!

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