STRICTLY’S KING BILL: I’ll keep on dancing!
DOUBLE Strictly winner Oti Mabuse has vowed to become Bill Bailey’s creative director and dance on tour with him after they lifted the Glitterball trophy on Saturday night.
Thirteen million viewers watched the dance duo being crowned, with Bill, 55, saying afterwards: “It feels like a dream. I’m starting to pinch myself to see if this is real. It’s overwhelming, it’s extraordinary.”
The comedian, who is the show’s oldest winner, added: “This says to every bloke in their 40s and 50s, ‘ Don’t give up.’ You can get up and dance. You can do more than you can possibly imagine. And having the strength and belief can get you there.” Holby City actor Joe McFadden was Strictly’s previous oldest winner, having triumphed in 2017 aged 42.
Oti, 30, also broke a record on Saturday night as she became the only professional to have won two years in a row.
Last year she took the trophy with Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher. This year she and Bill beat EastEnder Maisie Smith, 19, singer HRVY, 21, and Made in Chelsea’s Jamie Laing, 31.
The winners wowed with their routine to Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang; their week two’s quickstep to Bobby Darin’s Talk to the Animals; as well as a new showdance to Queen’s The Show Must Go On.
Bill said he would continue with his fancy footwork in the New Year, adding: “I don’t know about the 12 hours’ training a day but certainly I’d love to carry on dancing. It’s so much fun. It’s exhilarating, liberating.”
When Oti, 30, joked she had “employed herself” to become his new “creative director”, Bill said: “Yes, she said, ‘ I’ll do your dancing on the next tour.’”
As well as the postponed Strictly gigs, Bill hopes to embark on his comedy tour. Previous ones saw him dancing, which he plans to choreograph.
Before then, he has vowed to spend Christmas lying down with “a Cornish pasty in each hand” and his feet in ice.