Strictly’s Maisie Smith arrives for day of rehearsals after claiming confidence is ‘a disguise’

She and her pro partner Gorka Marquez narrowly avoided being booted off Strictly Come Dancing over the weekend after a shock dance-off against Max George. 

And Maisie Smith arrived for another day of rehearsals on Tuesday morning after saying her apparent confidence is a ‘disguise’.  

The EastEnders star, 19, sported grey jogging bottoms and a matching sweatshirt as she arrived to Strictly training.  

Maisie kept warm in a blue, white and black padded jacket and protected herself in a red face covering. 

The actress carried a pink sports bag and a beige tote bag as she prepared for another week of intensive training.   

In an Instagram Q&A on Monday, the soap star was asked how people can ‘get confidence like her’. 

The actress responded: ‘It’s a disguise. Deep down I’m scared to book an appointment for the hairdressers. I have to practise what I’m going to say.’   

It comes after former Strictly pro Kevin Clifton claimed Maisie is a victim of sexism after landing in the dance-off on Sunday. 

Kevin, who danced with Maisie in the 2019 Children In Need special, shared his shock and shared his theory why it had happened. 

Taking to Twitter on Monday, he wrote: ‘People love a confident/ talented/ successful man but a confident girl gets labelled cocky.’

Maisie told fans that she usually trains eight hours a day for the weekly dance show, but admits she and her dance partner Gorka Marquez sometimes have to train for up to 10. 

She admitted that she is ‘slow at learning everything’ because her ‘brain just doesn’t work after about 4pm’.  

The actress also said last weekend’s Cha Cha was her favourite routine. 

She added: ‘I guess that got me in the bottom two. But I loved it. I had the best time of my life and I loved being Barbie for a day. That was wicked.’    

Kevin also responded to tweets from other Strictly fans who agreed that confident male contestants can be treated differently compared to the female celebs.

After sharing his amazement at Maisie and her pro partner Gorka Marquez’s position, the star – who left the BBC show before this series – received several responses.

One person said: ‘@keviclifton I don’t understand why every year the public are b****y. And say they don’t like someone as a person. 

‘It isn’t a personality contest. It is a dancing contest. I for one love #Strictly. Nerves etc can make people come across as awkward.’