The Sunday Telegraph

‘I’m more sensitive than I thought I was’

When Ore Oduba is feeling emotional on ‘Strictly’, who does he turn to? He opens up to

- “Strictly Strictly Strictly Come Dancing Singin’ in the Rain Runaway Baby. Strictly’s EastEnders Newsround Strictly Strictly, Strictly Strictly’s Scum Strictly Strictly Celebrity doble. Strictly Top of the Pops I Hate… People. I’m a paso

Has there ever been a contestant more – shall we say – in touch with his emotions than Ore Oduba? The BBC sports presenter blubbed uncontroll­ably after the judges compared his dance to the showtune favourably with Gene Kelly’s version (Kelly’s widow later described the dance as a “beautiful tribute” to her husband).

The following week he was virtually inconsolab­le when he claimed the first 10s of the series and an almost perfect score for his jive with partner Joanne Clifton to Bruno Mars’s So tear-sodden was he that some online jokers questioned: “Is Ore Pregnant?”

“I’ve always been a bit of a romantic, I’ve always been connected to that side of myself, but I’ve learnt that I’m much more sensitive than I thought I was,” grins Oduba, 31, when we meet.

affects you, it’s a huge pressure being out of your comfort zone.”

Did his wife Portia, a TV researcher who travels from their home in Manchester to the studios in Elstree, Hertfordsh­ire, every week to support him, tell him it was time to put a lid on it? “We did have a chat about the fact that if I’d burst into tears three weeks in a row, it would have been a step too far,” he says. Generally, he adds, family and friends have given him remarkably little stick. “I think it’s all right to cry. Look at Greg and Nat on the results show,” he says, referring to last week’s eliminatio­n when Olympian Greg Rutherford and profession­al partner Natalie Lowe got wobbly-lipped at their eliminatio­n. “Greg’s a strong guy, who’s been through a lot, but a big deal.” Needless to say, backstage Oduba was choking up again, as he and Rutherford, along with the actor Danny Mac, the bookies’ favourite to win, had formed what he calls “a band of brothers”. “On the first day, Greg and I discovered we shared the same birthday, and since then we’ve been really close.” Oduba has also become firm friends with Ed Balls. “Ed is like a pillar of strength – he’s so cuddly! Last weekend [during Rutherford’s dance-off ], I found myself leaning on his shoulder for comfort. He was the person I thought would give the best embrace at that point – he gives good hugs. Everyone’s gravitated towards him, he’s like a dad to us all. He loves music, he’s always singing backstage behind the scenes. You can hear him even if you’re not in the same room.

“Ed’s success hasn’t been a surprise to us [contestant­s],” he says. “A lot of us said very early on: ‘Ed is embracing every single thing about the show – you’ll be surprised. He can move.’ ”

Balls isn’t only loved by his peers, he’s also a huge hit with the public, meaning that – despite his comparativ­e lack of dancing skills – he’s now third favourite to win, behind Mac and the former Eternal singer, Louise Redknapp. Some have shouted “Unfair”, arguing the show should celebrate pure talent, rather than the entertainm­ent value Balls provides in spades. “People are voting for what they want,” says Oduba. “I’m not going to say how it might be, I just love Ed and he deserves to be there.”

This year’s show has also been plagued by accusation­s of racism, the first three contestant­s to be voted off the show (the DJ Melvin Odoom,

actress Tameka Empson and newsreader Naga Munchetty) all not being white. Oduba, who has kept his counsel about the row, received so few votes from the public in week seven that he found himself in the dance-off, despite being joint third on the leaderboar­d.

It’s a subject the judges are keen to kick into touch: “The colour of someone’s skin doesn’t explain anything,” Craig Revel Horwood has said. “Prove it and I might listen to what the tabloids have said about it. But I don’t think the public votes on that basis, and as far as the judges are concerned, the better dance is always the one that goes through.”

Oduba, the son of a Nigerian lawyer, was born in London and grew up in Wimborne, Dorset, where he was privately educated. He studied sports science at Loughborou­gh University before becoming one of the BBC’s youngest presenters, working on everything from to the National Lottery, but with an emphasis Ore Oduba, left, and dancing with Joanna Clifton, below left. His father-in-law is Nick Culmer, above far right, of punk band The Anti Nowhere League on sports, including covering the 2014 Commonweal­th Games and the Rio Olympics. Unlike Mac and Redknapp, stage school features nowhere on his CV, but so impressive were his routines that rumours circulated that he’s had profession­al training.

“I’ve had no training whatsoever and it does hurt a little that people say that. I’m wondering where they get their facts from. Unless they were at school with me, how could they know?” he says. “It detracts from all the effort I’ve put in and the support Jo’s given me.”

Portia, 27, whom he married a year ago (he sobbed throughout the ceremony), is very visible in audience and appears frequently in the show’s training footage, giggling with Clifton, 33. Is this to thwart the notorious Curse of where the celebrity and pro fall for each other?

“Portia and I have always done everything together. I could never have done without her being a key member of the team. I might have cracked. She’s my anchor.”

The couple come across as Ken-andBarbie-clean, but Portia’s father Nick Culmer, 60, has the alter ego Animal, lead singer of the punk band The Anti Nowhere League. In the Seventies, he spent two years in prison and later lived off-grid in the wilds of Canada to escape a gang conflict. He was once kicked off for smuggling an axe into the studio, and the band’s back catalogue includes songs such as

and His wife, by contrast, attended Kent College with the Countess of Wessex.

Now a property developer based in Tunbridge Wells, Culmer still snarls with the band by night. Does he wear a safety-pin in his nose these days? Oduba laughs. “I’m not going to give any insights into the in-laws. It might have been daunting the first time I met them, but from the first second it was just warmth. They’ve been in the

audience. I proposed to Portia in front of them.” Wasn’t that a bit of a gamble? “I was banking on a yes.”

Is there bitter rivalry between Clifton, a former World Ballroom Showdance champion, and her older brother Kevin, Redknapp’s partner? “Don’t get me wrong – there’s love there, but Jo and her brother still want to get one over the other. You can’t get to where they are without a competitiv­e streak. When we were in the dance-off, I just looked in Jo’s eyes and could see the fight there that showed how she became the best in the world.”

Joan Collins has revealed her fandom for Oduba on Twitter. “Joan messaged me that she was keeping an eye on my trousers,” he has said. He’s had less love, though, from the disaffecte­d former

dancer James Jordan (husband of Ola, who is currently in the

jungle), who was dropped from the show in 2014 and has been busily tweeting how Oduba has been overmarked. “The show’s attracting audiences of 12 million,” says Oduba. “You can’t worry about what every single person thinks – it’s just about the training room, trying to create the best dance.” Last night, that dance was the

Tonight we’ll find out Oduba’s fate. Whether he sails through or – heaven forbid – is eliminated, it’s safe to say there’ll be tears.

“It won’t surprise you to hear that I already got emotional early this week, thinking that whatever happens,

ends in three weeks. I just don’t know what I’ll do without it.”

I suspect Oduba will be so inundated with presenting jobs, he’ll manage fine.

 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? ‘She’s my anchor,’ Ore Oduba says of his wife, Portia
‘She’s my anchor,’ Ore Oduba says of his wife, Portia
 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom