If you want to improve the way you look and feel, dancing is one of the best and most fun ways to get fit. As well as helping with your overall fitness, dancing can tone and define your body, improve your flexibility and posture and of course give you extra rhythm on the dance floor!

As well as being good for you, dancing is lots of fun and can often not even feel like you’re exercising – much better than slogging away on the treadmill for half an hour! Dance classes are a great way to make new friends and there are loads of different types of dance that you can choose from.

From Zumba, street dance and salsa, to ballroom, tap dancing and disco. There is a type of dance out there for everyone so give them a go to see which ones suit you best. And if you struggle to get to a class because of time commitments or transport issues, then dance DVDs are a great alternative.

There are lots of dance DVDs to choose from, so a good tip is to read product reviews to decide which ones to try. The good thing about home fitness DVDs is that you can of course do them in the comfort of your own living room, so they can often be much easier to fit into busy routines than attending a class.

Ensure that your new, toned and defined look is maximised upon by looking after yourself in other ways. Drink plenty of fluids and get enough sleep so that you feel rested and energised and look and feel your best for the day. Make the most of your skin by using tried and trusted skin products such as Oil of Olay. You will soon find yourself glowing inside and out!

If like me you have a small daughter who is just learning to dance, the time will come when her class puts on a show. It is very exciting for all concerned with Mums and Grandmas vying for the best seats in the house and all the precious darlings getting to be a princess for a day. The first time my little girl was to be in a show she was only four years old, and imagine my dismay when I received the rehearsal timetable (eight sessions in the week before the performance!) plus instructions regarding hair and make up.

What exactly constitutes ‘full make up’ on a pre-schooler I asked myself? Yes – you guessed it – the works, from foundation through to mascara. The words highly inappropriate sprung to mind but after reassurances that they would all be the same and under the bright lights in the theatre it is necessary I just had to get on with it. If you are facing the same horror then here are a few tips which may help:

1. Always have spare dance tights as the law of averages says that she will ladder her only decent pair on the day of the show. Check out consumer reviews on websites like Super Savvy Me for recommendations on brands.
2. Don’t wash hair the day of the show as it will be more slippery and harder to control.
3. Damp hair with a water spray and pull it back into a high ponytail as tightly and smoothly as possible. Apply gel to hold in place and then use a bun ring to form the ideal bun shape – simply post the ponytail through the hole in the middle and spread the hair around it to cover as you wrap it up.
4. Finish with a bun net and lots of pins to keep everything in place.
5. Once hair is done start on make up: mix foundation with a little moisturiser to be kinder to delicate skin and make sure you apply a lot of blusher for contouring.
6. Try to keep your daughter from rubbing her face with hands and sleeves – accidental smudges on clothes can be dabbed at with watered down Fairy Liquid.
7. Apply lipstick with a brush for ease, and if mascara is too difficult then draw in some lashes with black eyeliner.

If you’ve got into ballroom dancing, you may have noticed that your makeup needs some rethinking to show up enough on the dance floor. Follow this simple list of make up tips to ensure your face is as dazzling as your dance steps.

Start with some foundation to even out your complexion and reduce shadows. Make sure you have a shade that suits your natural skin colouring. Apply the foundation with a sponge over your entire face and go under your chin, onto your neck and up to the hairline. Blend evenly, and set the foundation using some powder.

Choose a blusher and apply to the cheeks while smiling.  Sweep the blusher up to the apples of your cheeks and out in the direction of your hairline.

Next put on some eye shadow. For dancing, the make up needs to be a lot heavier than you’d normally have it. Apply shadow to the whole of your eyelid using a colour that will make your eyes stand out. This is vital because stage lights will make your eyes appear smaller than normal. Choose a family of three colours and apply the darkest near your eye, the medium over the eyelid crease and the lightest shade can fill up the space to your eyebrow.

Put black eyeliner on your eyes to make them stand out. Liquid eyeliner is good for the top lid – start at the inner corner and apply a thin straight line.  Go further than your natural eyelid to accentuate your eye size. A pencil liner is better on the bottom lid. Start at the outer corner and draw below the lashes. Use your lashes as a guide as to where to start and stop the eyeliner.

Finally, apply two coats of black mascara to both your upper and lower lashes, or use false eyelashes. Finish your look with a bright coat of lipstick and blot your lips with a tissue to set the lipstick in place.

If you want to find out which beauty products are the best for your skin type, check out the product review section on Super Savvy Me.

As showbiz partnerships go, Philip and Holly Willoughby’s is a close one. After all, they’ve presented Dancing on Ice together for six series, as well as being on the This Morning sofa together. But they won’t be together at Dancing on Ice 2012.

Holly is switching channels to go over to the BBC as host on the talent show The Voice.  Apparently, it’s not about the money for Holly, it’s more about the challenge of presenting a different show.

Still, Philip will see a lot of Holly – she’s staying on the sofa at This Morning, so they’ll still have lots of quality time together!

The pair got recognition for their work together just last week when This Morning won the TV Times Award 2011 Favourite Daytime Show for the second year running.  Holly was thrilled: “This prize last year was the first award I’d won as part of my time on the show, so it feels extra special to win it a second year running. Thanks to all those that voted for us!”

They even seem to spend time out of work together.  During the summer break from This Morning, the appeared to be holidaying together with their families this summer, when Holly tweeted pics of her and the Schofields late at night in a swimming pool at a party with Ant McPartlin.

So how will Philip be feeling about starting the seventh series of Dancing on Ice in January without his ‘telly wife’?  Well, he broke the news on his Twitter page saying: “Just to keep you in the loop, @hollywills won’t be presenting Dancing on Ice due to new commitments @clbleakley will step into the rink.”

He’s been ever the professional, saying really positive things about looking forward to working with Christine on DOI. The new dynamic duo has been working on a charity ITV programme called Text Santa with Ant and Dec, too. People following the Dancing on Ice odds will be keeping an eye on how well they do.

Christine has also been gushing about how excited she is to be a part of the DOI phenomenon, saying she is one of the show’s biggest fans.

So who’s going to win Strictly now? If you ask the bookmakers, it’s Harry Judd. But I’ve seen a  few polls knocking around the web to suggest that Eccles own’s Chelsee can take the top spot at Blackpool’s world famous Tower Ballroom on the 17th.

Nevertheless, the bookies usually know what they’re doing with this kind of thing and Harry Judd and 26 year old Russian dancing partner Aliona Vilani are hot favourites as things stand at around 1-2 in the Strictly Come Dancing betting.

Meanwhile, Chelsee Harvey and 31 year old Siberian-born Pasha Kovalev are hot on their heels at around 10-3 with most of the major bookies. After recent showings, Chelsee has begun to move through the field, closing the gap on perma-favourite Harry, whilst Jason Donovan – now the oldest competitor left in the Strictly contest – has slipped down the betting a little.

As things stand, Jason and his dance partner the lovely 34 year old Kristina Rihanoff (who also hails from Siberia – maybe there’s nothing else to do there but dance!?) are 7-1 third favourites in the Strictly Come Dancing odds.

Then there’s quite a gap to the remaining two pairings.

Alex Jones and Kent’s own 32 year old  James Jordan (real life partner of Ola Jordan – the lucky man) are a whopping 33-1 with the bookmakers. Available at exactly the same price are Holly Valance and Russian dancer Artem Chigvintsev.

Holly and Artem have come close a few times to getting the elbow, but keep managing to survive somehow.

Alex and James have steadily improved but may have left their late run too late. In last week’s show,  Alex looked very glamorous and started off well before something distracted her halfway through, and things went a little awry. She looked very downcast, but the judges clearly felt sorry for her and told her how well she’d done, to her considerable surprise. She even got a couple of 9s.

Unless something drastic happens, it’s a two horse race. So who’s your money on; Chelsee or Harry?