Strictly’s back!
Comedian and writer Susan Calman has high hopes for Kevin Clifton, her former Strictly Come Dancing partner
Susan Calman was living the dream – as well as defying the odds – when she and dance pro Kevin Clifton reached the tenth round of last year’s Strictly Come Dancing. Another year and another series will obviously see another woman partnering her beloved Kevin, but Susan wants only the best for him.
“Whoever he gets partnered with, I'll be right there supporting them,” she tells us. “It's time for the class of 2018 to take over. But I'll always be Team Clifton. Always. Strictly happens, you love it, you treasure the brilliant memories, but it's important to let others have that joy. Besides... I have already won a Glitter Ball with him.” What? Did we miss something? “Kevin and I won on the Strictly tour,” Susan laughs. “Back to this year, though, I really, really would love it if he wins. He so deserves it. He’s a wonderful person, and a fantastic dancer and choreographer who also has the ability to bring out the absolute best in his partner. He got me to week ten, for goodness sake! Who would have predicted that? He’s my brother from another mother, a friend for life who I wouldn’t hesitate to contact – at whatever hour of the day or night – if I had a problem. Since this
year’s Strictly contestants have been announced, we’ve been texting and speculating who he might get.”
Having literally been in their shoes, Susan’s advice to the Strictly class of 2018 is to try not to let the judges’ rather more caustic comments get in the way of enjoyment.
“Although I had a wonderful time and it changed my life, I do look back and think I should have enjoyed it more at the time. I wish I’d gone, ‘Oh, shut up, Craig!’ when he gave me a three rather than fretting about it and thinking I was awful.”
Would she honestly have dared to tell the mighty Craig Revel Horwood to shut it?
“Craig’s lovely, really,” Susan replies. “But he’s the way he is on the judging panel for a reason. He knows what he’s doing and what he’s saying – even if he does mark lower than I think he should. Obviously, it’s important to take on board what the judges say but you shouldn’t let their comments ruin your enjoyment.”
Susan may not have been dancing much in recent months but she’s been very busy writing. Her latest book, Sunny Side Up – a Story of Kindness and Joy, is published on September 6.
“My first book, Cheer Up, Love, was about suffering from depression. This one is about how we should all try to be kinder to each other,” she explains. “It’s so easy to be kind. You don’t need to spend money and you don’t need to do a lot. It’s such a simple thing. I feel we’ve all become more aggressive towards each other. Fear, anger, rude behaviour, intolerance, spite and bullying are all in evidence every single day of the week. But I believe that if we were all a little bit kinder, a little bit more full of joy, things would be better. Being kind is a way of saying, ‘You’re a person, I’m a person, you haven’t done anything wrong towards me so why am I not kind to you?’ It’s one of the nicest qualities to have and the older I get, the more I realise it. Many areas of the media are obsessed with being unkind; this is a small revolution of suggesting we do the opposite.”
What’s the kindest thing anyone’s ever done for her?
“That’s a tricky one,” she muses. “I feel very lucky in that lots of people have been kind to me. At one end of the spectrum, there’s the love and kindness that’s constantly shown to me by my wife, Lee. At the other end, there’s someone giving me a Ferrero Rocher! One random act of kindness that sticks in my mind is the train conductor who let me sit in his wee cabin when I had to get to a gig because the races were on and there was no room on the train. In the book are lots of stories about people who’ve been kind to each other. Some of the most touching are about acts of kindness from strangers towards each other.”
Susan (43) also feels we should all be kinder towards ourselves.
“Personally, I am very, very hard on myself,” she says. “I’m very self-critical and always think I could do and be better. But I’ve learned that it’s easier to be kind to others when you feel it towards yourself. Constantly being angry at who you are, or depressed about the way you look, is tough. Strictly taught me to like myself more. Before I was on it, I avoided looking in the mirror because I didn’t like what I saw. It’s still an uncomfortable experience and I don’t enjoy it, but I make myself do it. I look in the mirror and say, ‘You’re not ugly, you’re not hideous, you’re an OK person’. It works.”
‘Obviously, it’s important to take on board what the judges say but you shouldn’t let their comments ruin your enjoyment’