‘I’ve been a fighter all my life’
S ince leaving Strictly Come
Dancing in 2009, choreographer Arlene Phillips is in greater demand than ever. The 74-year-old queen of dance talks about her time on Strictly… and her new theatre tour. You never seem to stop working, Arlene. What drives you? My job happens to be the thing I love – dance. So I feel so lucky, because I’ve never really stopped working. I’ve done so much, and now I don’t want to stop. It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? You’re celebrating 40 years in showbiz by touring your own show. What can we expect? It’s me talking about my life, all the things I’ve done and the lovely people I’ve worked with. I’ve been a little fighter all my life. I’m very determined, and I fought my way into this business. So I will explain that and, of course, there will be some dancing along the way. Over 40 years, you have choreographed big movies, musicals and pop videos. Who was your favourite musician to work with? Well, I loved Elton [John] and Freddie [Mercury], and the truth is that Elton just got on with it, but Freddie would say, ‘Right, what am I going to wear? How am I going to move? What’s the story?’ There was never a dull moment with Freddie around! Did launching your dance group, Hot Gossip, in 1975 totally change your life? Absolutely. People think Hot Gossip was an overnight success, but it was three years of hard work, with me taking all those costumes home to wash every night. When we finally got on TV, on The Kenny Everett Video Show, there were so many complaints about us being too sexy that we made headlines. That was the beginning and, after that, my career took off. You said recently that you don’t know why you were dropped as a Strictly judge. Do you stand by that comment? Yes. I was never given the real, honest reason, other than I lacked personality, which I don’t accept. Now, I realise how much confidence I lost because of that. But I’m still good friends with a lot of the dancers and, of course, Bruno [Tonioli] and I go back many years. You look amazing. What’s your exercise regime? I love my exercise bike, and I swim a lot. When I’m choreographing a show, I’ll get up early and do my dance exercises. The ballet barre has become my exercise of choice. I love the feeling of it – it lifts my spirit. Arlene!, the theatre tour, starts in Brighton on 5 September. Visit arlenephillips.com