KAREN: STRICTLY CHANGED MY LIFE...
And I want to carry on for ever ‘NEW DOWNTON’ A PAIN FOR STAR PHIL
STRICTLY favourite Karen Hauer says she fears not being asked back on the show.
The professional dancer says she’s still waiting on a phone call to invite her back on the BBC programme for what will be her ninth year.
Karen, 37, said: “Strictly has completely changed my life. It’s definitely been the mothership.”
But despite being one of its best-loved pros, there is no guarantee of another 12-month contract.
“Hopefully I’ll be back,” said Karen, who finished fourth with comedian Chris Ramsey last year.
“It’s nerve-wracking. It all depends on which celebrities they’ve signed up and whether you fit in.”
Karen is touring a live show called Firedance with fellow pro Gorka
PHILIP Glenister says getting ready for new ITV period drama Belgravia was a “pain in the a***”.
The 57-year-old actor, best known as no-nonsense copper Gene Hunt in Life on Mars, plays
Marquez, who did not get a celebrity partner on last year’s Strictly. But she thinks that working with Gorka has calmed her own fiery nature.
Venezuelan Karen said: “He’s very calm and easygoing. He’s made me calmer. Our roots are very Latino and fiery. We’re good friends.”
Watching Gorka, 29, settle down with actress Gemma Atkinson, 35, and daughter
Mia, seven months, has made Karen think about a family of her own.
“I’m just so happy for him,” she said.
“It’s beautiful to see him flourish. Having a baby is a possibility for me. I’m really happy. Everything is falling into place.”
Karen, who was once married to Strictly’s Kevin Clifton, is now loved up with opera singer David Webb, 35.
“It’s important to let go of things that didn’t work in the past,” she said. “I had a couple of rough years.
“Now I look back and I’m proud of myself of getting through.
“I adore David. He knows every piece of me and gets me, which is rare. And he likes dogs. I’m probably going to end up with 25.”
Catch Firedance from March 6, firedancelive.co.uk. a top-hatted Regency gent with huge sideburns in the show.
He said it took up to an hour to prepare each day for the series, which has been dubbed the new Downton Abbey.
“It is a pain the a*** to get changed in the morning,” he admitted. “You had to get up early so you could get into all the gear.
“I had to wear dinner suits,
Victorian gear, have mutton chops put on and my hair styled.”
The six-part series has been created by Downton writer, Julian Fellowes. But Philip moaned that the award-winning author’s scripts could be hard to digest – particularly during one dinner scene where he had to eat a mutton leg.
“You have to say the lines over and over again and eat as well, so it is not fun,” he said. “Shows by Julian are very wordy and it is not like you can change anything.
“Mentally, it is quite tiring. The script becomes like spaghetti in your head when you are saying lines over and over again.”
Belgravia, which follows the lives of toffs in London, is based on Julian’s novel of the same name. It starts on ITV next month.