Soap stars hit the dancefloor for charity Diary
AHOST of Emmerdale stars are preparing to do ballroom battle in an epic dance off at a charity ball. Soap favourites Liam Fox, Samantha Giles, Joel Gill, Amy Walsh, Mike Parr and Katherine Dow Blyton are all learning to quickstep, rumba and tango with professional dance partners ready for the glittering event to be held at Bolton’s Macron Stadium next week.
They will be judged by an allstar panel on the night, including former Wigan footballer Jason Jarrett, boxer Scott Quigg and Emmerdale star Gemma Atkinson - with the best groover crowned the Dancing With The Dales champion. We headed down to rehearsals at Royton’s Trujons Dance Studio this week to see how Liam and Samantha are getting on ready for the epic ballroom blitz, which will raise funds for Manchester’s Christie Hospital and blood cancer charity CALLM.
Although it seems for Liam, who plays Emmerdale’s Dan Spencer, the dancing has not come all that naturally!
Liam says: “I last danced in September 1989 in the Hacienda after several pints of lager, so this might be slightly different.”
His dance partner Vannessa Wong laughs: “We’re doing the rumba, but Liam is like a plank of wood, we might need some oil in his hips!”
To which Liam responded: “I could do with a bit of oil everywhere I’m very stiff.
“But it’s going good, we’ve had a lot of laughs looking at me not being able to move.
“I think I might be dance dyslexic as it just isn’t sinking in!”
However, Liam’s co-star Samantha, who plays the soap’s Bernice Blackstock, has taken to dancing like a duck to water.
She says: “I’ve never danced before. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and that’s part of the reason I accepted this challenge and I’ve been absolutely loving it. I’m very competitive and I just want it to be really good and give the audience something really good to watch.”
Her dance partner, Prince Jack Clegg says: “Samantha has done incredibly well with the quickstep. It’s very fast and very difficult but her attitude in wanting it to be perfect is brilliant.
“It’s been very clear from day one that Sam can dance. We started with basic steps but she could take on more and more.”
The event has been organised by Julie Garrity and June Burns, who both have personal experience of the charities and relatives with cancer.
To book tickets for the May 5 event, email m.garrity@sky.com or go to their Facebook/DancingWithTheDales.