He may be more Frank Spencer than Fred Astaire – but my Mike didn’t deserve that abuse

He endured weeks of trolling and even a death threat for his ‘rubbish’ Strictly dancing. Step forward Mike Bushell – and his loyal wife, who insists...

there representing all the “dad dancers” who are a bit out of shape and a little embarrassed to have a go. And the response from them has been incredible.

‘There’s a group of dads locally who have set up their own dance group. My own dad, who is 81, has started having lessons. My mum’s doing Zumba and she’s 77.

‘I’d say to everyone: “Get out there and just do it.” It’s amazing for building your confidence. And I can tell you this, I’ve spent my whole life around athletes and sportspeople, and, in terms of fitness and drive, none of them comes close to those Strictly pros. The power and energy of a professional dancer is awesome.’

Tonight, Mike is off to Blackpool — as an audience member, rather than a participant — and Emily is joining him. ‘That’s another thing that had people shouting “fix”,’ says Mike, ‘ because I said I was going [to Blackpool] regardless. But we’d booked the hotel right at the start, because I never expected to get to Blackpool and we thought it would be fun.

‘Had I stayed in the competition for another week, we’d have paid for the hotel room needlessly, because the BBC puts you up.’

Mike will return to the competition at the end, for the final group dance, and he’s already signed up for the Strictly tour next year.

Katya hasn’t yet been confirmed (in fact, none of the professionals have), but it would be unthinkable for her not to be on board.

Will her ex-husband, Neil, be involved in the tour, too?

Interestingly, Mike says Neil and Katya have been on friendly terms during the contest, and Neil was a constant support for Mike.

As were his family, including his three daughters, Lucy, 23, Isabel, 20, and Sophie, 16. He split from their mother, ex-wife Kim, in 2009.

He met Emily in a pub in 2017, at a mutual friend’s birthday party. She remembers thinking: ‘What a lovely bloke.’

‘I didn’t know who he was,’ she admits. ‘And we didn’t actually get together for some time after that.’

Emily was newly single. She’d split from the father of her son, Josh, who is now ten. ‘Neither of us was looking. I certainly didn’t expect this to happen,’ she says.

They met again the following year and then started to see each other. ‘It was just as friends, really,’ says Emily. ‘When I introduced Mike to Josh, it wasn’t as my boyfriend or anything. It was just as a friend.’

When their romance eventually blossomed, it sounds as if it took both of them by surprise. ‘If you’d asked me to write a list of all the things I find attractive in a man, Mike probably wouldn’t have ticked many of them,’ says Emily. ‘But he’s the kindest, loveliest person I know.

‘He has a talent for making everyone he speaks to feel like the most important person in the world. And he makes me laugh constantly.’

She reels off his ‘Frank Spencer’ moments. He’s rubbish at DIY: ‘Shelves keep falling down.’

He proposed by dressing up in a hired Gandalf outfit — the wizard from The Lord Of The Rings — but it went awry when he realised no beard had been included.

He was in a hotel room wearing the cloak when Emily walked in. She shrieked with laughter when he got down on one knee anyway, but was bemused. ‘I’d never seen The Lord Of The Rings. I had no idea what he was doing.’

They married quietly, with Mike’s three daughters (‘who adore Emily,’ says Mike) as bridesmaids, and Josh and Emily’s father giving her away.

Funnily enough, the demands of Strictly Come Dancing have helped them bond as a family. ‘Before, I’d spent quite a bit of time with the girls, but Mike was always there,’ says Emily.

‘ With Strictly, we travelled together to the shows to see him, so there was a lot of hanging out. It was really bonding.’

The girls don’t live with the couple, but Josh does. A set of goalposts dominates the back garden. Sport has also brought the father and stepson closer. ‘Football: the universal language,’ Mike grins.

Emily is just happy that they will now be able to have normal weekends together. ‘It will be nice to get our Saturdays back,’ she says. And, of course, her husband.