Strictly not fair!

Bill’s ballroom past

BILL Bailey may have more of a cha-cha-chance of winning than his Strictly rivals – after admitting he has had ballroom training.

The comic, 55, writes in his new book: “When I was a teenager I had ballroom dancing lessons. There was a dance school across the road and I learned the waltz, the foxtrot and the quickstep.”

Strictly has defended past contestants with dance skills by saying they had no “ballroom or Latin” experience.

Bill has been partnered with Oti Mabuse on the BBC show. He adds in Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to Happiness: “The teacher was a tiny woman with a huge passion for The Dance.

“It was a marvellous and quite surreal experience to whirl around a dance hall with this ball of terpsichorean* energy.

“I can see the appeal of the foxtrot, the tango, the rhumba, the formal nature of it all, but it’s not really me.”

Last night a Strictly source defended Bill’s inclusion, stressing he only had two lessons and that it was 40 years ago.

The source said: “If he was joining straight after having had lessons as a teenager, it would have been different.”

Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse, Oti’s older sister, has said she expects Bill to be a “surprise” package on the show.

Last week we revealed contestant Caroline Quentin, 60, had years of dance training before switching to acting in shows like Men Behaving Badly.

There was a dance school across the road and I learned the waltz, foxtrot & quickstep

BILL BAILEY IN NEW BOOK REMARKABLE GUIDE TO HAPPINESS

UP AND CLOWN Bill leaps as partner Oti has a giggle HAVING A BALL Bill and Oti on dancefloor * terpsichorean - adjective relating to dance