1. She Loves Bananas
Manrara is obsessed with bananas and eats them with everything—including pasta! "I know it sounds weird but I kind of have a banana with everything," she tells HELLO. "One of my favorite things in the world, and you're all going to be shocked, is to have a banana with spaghetti. I love bananas with chicken and rice. It's just a Cuban side dish that's normally made with fried plantain, but as a kid growing up, if we didn't have the fried plantains my mum would just give me a banana."
2. She Loves Cool Ranch Doritos
Mike Marsland/WireImage
Doritos, specifically the Cool Ranch flavor, are Manrara’s favorite snack food. While Doritos could never be mistaken for any sort of healthy snack, it’s clearly a “treat” and not something she eats all the time (although they are lab-designed to be over-eaten). “Doritos started as a genius idea from the VP of sales and marketing at Frito-Lay named Arch West,” says Mark Schatzker, author of The Dorito Effect. “He wanted to unleash tortilla chips on the market. The very first Doritos were just salted tortilla chips — and they failed. So he came up with an idea to make them taste like taco. Up to that point, only tacos tasted like tacos and tortilla chips tasted like corn. Thanks to the invention of the gas chromatograph, flavor scientists could finally figure out what flavor compounds were in tacos and then put those chemicals on tortilla chips."
3. She Dances—Obviously!
Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
Manrara is a dancer, and incorporates dance into her workouts—and into her social media posts. "Dancing can give you more than traditional cardio," Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist and education team member for the National Academy of Sports Medicine, told HuffPost. "If exercise is not an enjoyable experience, we're not going to do it. People think, 'I'm not exercising, I'm dancing'. But at the end of the day, you're moving and you're burning calories. It's just as good as a cardio class."
4. She Cleans Her Face Religiously
Mike Marsland/WireImage
Manrara never goes to bed without thoroughly washing her face—no matter how tired she is. “I use Neutrogena Facial Wash every night before I go to bed,” she tells Express. I wear so much make-up for Strictly and this helps keep my skin clear. I moisturize afterwards, using Elemis Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm or ESPA Overnight Hydration Therapy. It’s so crucial that you go to bed with absolutely no make-up on – it’s easy to come home tired and just lay down and sleep, but it’s the worst thing you can do for your face.”
5. She Stretches Every Day
Karwai Tang/WireImage
Manrara stretches every day. “When I’m on Strictly, I don’t do much because we are training,” she says. “When I’m not, I will go on the treadmill two or three times a week just for 25 minutes, then I might do some body sculpting. For dancing I need to have long lean muscles, so I do lots of stretching too.” Stretching is important for preventing injuries, experts say. "A lot of people don't understand that stretching has to happen on a regular basis. It should be daily," says David Nolan, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. "The areas critical for mobility are in your lower extremities: your calves, your hamstrings, your hip flexors in the pelvis and quadriceps in the front of the thigh."
6. She Avoids Dairy
Shutterstock
Manrara loves alternative milk, and avoids real dairy. “I love cereal but I don’t drink cows’ milk,” she says. “I drink this dairy-free product called Mylk from Rebel Kitchen and it tastes like whole milk – it’s amazing. I also love a banana with peanut butter if I really need a lot of energy for the day, and of course a huge cup of coffee.”
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Shutterstock
Mike Marsland/Getty Images
Mike Marsland/WireImage
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
Beaux Raymond/Instagram
Joe Maher/Getty Images
Shutterstock
