Daisy ready to wow Strictly for her zeide
LESLEY JOSEPH promised to “shake her booty” as the three Jewish contestants on were introduced to their professional partners in front of more than 10 million viewers.
Ms Joseph, who is 70, said she was “thrilled” to be matched with veteran professional Anton du Beke, who has danced in every series — including with Esther Rantzen in 2004 — and who got to the final last year.
“This man is a legend,” the actress told host Tess Daly, adding: “I’m reasonably fit for a woman of my age and I just want to get out there, moving and shaking my booty, you know what I mean?”
O n S a t u r d a y night, 10.1 million viewers — a record for a first episode of the show — saw model Daisy Lowe: her grandfather died as she began rehearsals Daisy Lowe paired Aljaz Skorjanec. Ms Lowe, who has modelled for Chanel and Marc Jacobs among others, will dance with Skorjanec, a former champion on the programme, who won with model Abbey Clancy in 2013. The 27-year-old admitted that she had “quite good natural rhythm” but added that she was “very clumsy.” Before the show began on Saturday, she said she planned to dance to her grandfather’s favourite songs after he passed away on the first day of rehearsals. She said the sudden loss “wasn’t easy” but despite losing a loved one to a heart attack, her grandmother convinced Ms Lowe to stay on the show. “I’ve always loved the show and my grandma hasn’t missed an episode in 12 years — she’s obsessed. She got on the phone and said: ‘You are not coming home, you have to finish the day. He would want you to be there’. “My grandfather — Ed, ‘Fast Eddie’ — was so excited about me doing this. I’ve got to try to do my best for him.” Meanwhile TV j udge Rob Rinder took to the floor with Oksana Platero, a new professional dancer from Ukraine.
Mr Rinder said he had learned a little Russian in advance of meeting the dancer, who has previously appeared on the US version of the show,
He said he was determined to win the competition, asking: “Who enters a competition and says: ‘Ooh, all I want to do is to learn jazz hands for a week’? It’s just a great big porkie. I can’t wait to swap the courtroom for the ballroom.”
When Mr Rinder was paired with Mrs Platero, however, he admitted: “I’ve never been this nervous about meeting a girl.”
He caused a stir with the judges, remarking that if Len Goodman, Darcey Bussell and Bruno Tonioli “are as brilliant as I think they are, it’ll be perfect” — conspicuously failing to mention the notoriously harsh Craig Revel Horwood.
When Ms Daly noted: “I think you missed someone out on the panel,” the TV judge commented: “Oh, did I?”, eliciting laughs from the audience.
‘Strictly’ resumes on September 24. Follow the progress of Daisy Lowe, Lesley Joseph and Rob Rinder in the JC’s weekly column Lesley Joseph and Rob Rinder take to the floor in the opening Strictly show