Strictly star Vicky Pattison admits that her husband Ercan was delighted that she took on Strictly this year – but confesses that babies are most definitely on the agenda for them in 2026

When she opens up during an exclusive photoshoot for OK! about her Strictly journey, straight-talking Vicky Pattison tells us in no uncertain terms that if she wasn’t getting her sparkle on for the hit BBC show, alongside pro partner Kai Widdington, it could have been nappies and late nights instead.

The TV star and Heart radio host, 37, who married businessman Ercan Ramadan last August, admits, laughing, that her Saturday nights could have been looking very different right now. “At the start of this year, I said to Ercan, I’m either gonna do Strictly, a second series of Honesty Box or we’re going to have a baby. When I got the call for Strictly he was over the moon,” she smiles.

She admits that though doing Strictly means they have less quality time together, it’s shown the Geordie favourite just how caring Ercan, 32, is – and she’s convinced he’ll make an incredible father, once the time comes. “So yes, kids are definitely on the cards next year. I think he’s looking forward to it now. He probably thinks I’ll be at home a bit more, which he’s thrilled about,” she says.

Opening up fondly on how much he’s been stepping up since she began dancing, Vicky explains, “He’s my anchor and he spoils me rotten. He wakes me up every morning with my electrolytes, my collagen, ready to go to Strictly school! She adds, “He texts about what I want for dinner and he’s being the best dog dad. There’s a real sense of role reversal, in the traditional sense, right now. It’s progressive and it takes a special man to do that.”

The bubbly star, who recently admitted on social media that Sundays at home with hubby are “sacred” to her right now, added, “Going home to Ercan and the dogs, I’m so grateful for that. I can snap out of whatever steps are flying around in my head and be with my family. I need that moment.”

She also confessed that when Ercan recently flew to see his family in Cyprus for a week – the only time he’s missed seeing her perform live – it hit her hard. “I told him to go. I said, ‘All I’m doing is coming home and whining that I’m tired, then I go to bed.’ But the minute he left, I realised how much I missed him and needed him.”

Back in March, Vicky – who has been very open about her journey towards freezing her eggs at 35, told the Mirror she definitely wanted to start trying for children in the next year or two.

“My mam had me at 30, geriatric back in her day… So if I can get one in before 40, I’ll be over the moon!”, she confessed. “Everyone thought we’d try for kids quite quickly – so did we! But we wanted to enjoy being married, for at least a year.”

She also admitted sweetly that Ercan, whose family is Turkish-Cypriot, is one of four boys, and has confessed he would love a “football team” of sons, while she, coming from “a long line of women who have women”, imagines herself having a daughter first.