'Dancing' judge was "only gay in the village"

Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli has spoken about being bullied because of his sexuality, while he was growing up in Italy.

"When I was 10, I knew there was something different about me," Bruno told The Mirror. "Everyone was football-mad but I just wanted to watch musicals and see art. It was frightening. I really was the only gay in the village. I was labelled 'the queenie guy' and 'the queer', which was the worst thing you could be told in Italy in those days."

"I always danced very well, so the great-looking girls would dance around me," he explained. "One night a bunch of lads got jealous about this. They shouted, 'You poofter!' and chased me from the club with a broken bottle, then pinned me up against a wall. I eventually chatted myself out of it with wit and imagination - but I was very lucky.

"When people feel threatened by you, they find something that is belittling. I was a pretty boy - maybe they fancied me and were afraid of their own feelings.

"I realised I had to reinvent myself. So I grew my hair, started smoking, always wore the latest gear and had the best-looking girls as my friends. I turned it to my advantage and became very popular, just by doing an act. So bullies no longer had any reason to attack me.

"Instead of being an object of derision, I was able to become an object of admiration."