Hopefully, I’m generally invisible

The man with his band

HIS wave is one of the most famous in showbiz. For 13 years he has cheerily, if awkwardly, greeted millions of viewers each week for every series.

Yet composer and pianist Dave Arch does not get recognised in public.

And that suits the shyest man in showbusiness just fine.

“Hopefully, I’m generally invisible,” he laughed. “But I like it that way. People say they don’t recognise me without headphones on. I’m just not showbiz. When you realise it’s the biggest show on TV, well, I pinch myself.”

Dave, 56, was asked to join in 2005, a year after its launch and has the mammoth task of arranging the music for every dance.

But he keeps his head down and avoids the glamour, gossip and speculation about the Strictly “curse” of broken relationships and flings. When asked about the furore over the public snog between Seann Walsh and married dancer Katya Jones this series, he said carefully: “The week after was a little awkward. You could feel the tension around.”

But he did love working with the show’s first host, Bruce Forsyth. “He would do the odd number and I’d go to his house and routine it. He was very particular, occasionally he’d say ‘Not like that, Dave’.” On the show, Dave writes all the arrangements but has just three hours to practise on Fridays and 15 minutes to go through the music with the brass section on Saturdays before the stars’ dress rehearsals. “Getting it ready can be quite hellish,” he said.

Outside of Strictly, his CV is pretty impressive. He has worked on the first five Harry Potter films, The King’s Speech and many more. Oh, and supported legends such as Sir Paul McCartney. But Dave draws the line on one thing. “People have tried to get me dancing,” he groaned. “But I know my boundaries. I can’t dance.”