‘The night when my head looked like a conker’
The social-media star on the emotions of Blackpool, the perils of hair gel and learning the Lindyhop
My 96-year-old Nanna Phyllis was the star of Blackpool for me. When Tess Daly interviewed her and my nan started mouthing along with Tess’s autocue, it was hilarious. As we were leaving, there were fans outside and my nan came through in her wheelchair, high-fiving them all on the way up the ramp into her taxi. She loved it.
My family come from a rural village in Wiltshire and my nan’s never seen first-hand what I do or the effect it has on people, so for her to experience all that was brilliant. She’s becoming a bit of a celebrity in her own right. Maybe she’ll be on Strictly herself next year. Get her a new bionic hip and she’d be up there! Having my family there inspired me. I find it harder doing dress runs in an empty ballroom. If there’s a crowd, you feel their support, feed off their energy and it helps you put everything into the dance.
The Tower Ballroom was so beautiful, steeped in history and the bigger, sprung floor was perfect for our Quickstep. With the extra dancers, it felt like being part of a movie. I kept comparing it to Moulin Rouge! I quite enjoyed having slicked-down hair like Fred Astaire, even though it made my head look like a conker. It helped me get into character, but I had to wash it a few times to get it back to normal!
I would have been happy with one “10”, let alone three. I got a little emotional when the scores came in. It was lots of factors rolled into one: the build-up of pressure, making it to Blackpool, my nan being there, the fact that Dianne had never performed with a partner in Blackpool before… I’d gone a bit glassy-eyed and when Claudia asked if I was alright, that’s when it all hit me. There was a big-time party after the show. I stayed for a couple of hours, then snuck off to bed, but the celebrations went on well into the small hours. There were the standard reports about me and Dianne kissing but that’s not true. I don’t know where these rumours come from. I assume it’s just idle gossip.
We’re doing a streetdance for our Couple’s Choice this week. We picked that because it’s the complete opposite to ballroom, and I want to keep challenging myself. It’s sport-themed and a full-on, risky routine with lots of props. We’ve also got the Lindyhopathon this weekend. It’s going to be hectic on the floor with 14 people Lindyhopping at once, but that’s all part of the fun. We just need to be careful we don’t hop into each other!