Strictly Come Dancing's Lacey Turner begs EastEnders bosses to stop nominating her for awards
Strictly Come Dancing star Lacey Turner has won 40 accolades for playing Stacey Slater in EastEnders.
Lacey Turner had begged EastEnders bosses to stop nominating her for awards because she finds collecting gongs and delivering acceptance speeches in front of a huge crowd terrifying.
The 38-year-old actress has won 40 accolades for portraying Stacey Slater in the BBC soap, including being named Best Actress multiple times, and for her alter ego's postpartum psychosis storyline that aired across Christmas 2015 and early 2016.
Despite her success and years of receiving awards on stage at big bashes, Lacey still finds the experience uncomfortable and admits she would rather give birth than win gongs.
Speaking in the new issue of Heat magazine, the Strictly Come Dancing 2026 contestant said dealing with the attention that comes with playing an iconic character "doesn’t come very naturally to me".
Lacey added: "I can’t bear being put up for awards. It sounds so ungrateful, but it’s terrifying going in front of a huge crowd and giving a speech.
"I’d rather give birth than win an award, that’s how scary it is!
"I actually asked the EastEnders bosses to stop putting me up for nominations because I find the whole experience too daunting."
In the new issue of Closer magazine, the Our Girl alum noted she is "quite shy" and "not great at being in the public eye".
Instead, Lacey prefers the "boring" life on her farm with her husband Matt Kay, and their three children - daughters Dusty, seven, and Gipsy, 19 months, and five-year-old son Trilby - rather than getting glammed up for a showbiz event.
She said: "I'm such a homebody - I hate dressing up, wearing make-up or being on the red carpet, and I'd pick Crocs and a tracksuit any day over a dress."
However, family life on her small farm is far from quiet.
Lacey shared: "It's absolute chaos in my house.
"An average day will see my youngest come in with a pair of my knickers on her head. The dog comes in with a dead rabbit, the baby will be holding a leg of the rabbit, my chicken space was on fire the other day, and you could be sat in peace and then be shot with a Nerf gun.
"It's madder than the Slaters!
"Sometimes it's that mad I want to cry, but all I can do is laugh. People have come in and said, 'This is like a mental asylum' - but I love it!
"When it's quiet, and the kids are at their grandparents', me and Matt are like, 'This is so boring!'"
