Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
I’ve been tangoed!
Not only is Russell Grant joining Strictly’s Flavia and Vincent on their tango tour – he’s just invented his own ballroom dance workout
Russell Grant is dressed from top to toe in black and asking for a chocolate sundae. A chocolate sundae? What happened to the slimline Strictly Come Dancing star who shimmied out of a giant sea shell to Bananarama’s Venus in a spangly suit? ‘Oh, I need the chocolate sundae to keep me going but I’ve kept all the weight off since Strictly. I’ve lost a total of 11 stone now,’ he giggles.
Russell can’t stop grinning because he hasn’t stopped dancing since he left the show just over a year ago. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Arlene Phillips created bespoke scenes to showcase his nifty footwork on the West End stage, and now he’s not only signed up to dance alongside Str ictly stars Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone in their spectacular tango stage show, but he’s also releasing a DVD of a new dance fitness workout called Zalza.
All this from the tubby TV astrologer who was expected to fill the ‘hopeless’ slot vacated by Ann Widdecombe on Strictly the year before. Instead, Russell enjoyed a celebrity rebirth thanks to his great sense of rhythm and brilliant stunts, from riding a bucking bronco to being fired out of a cannon on a tea tray. ‘Not bad for someone who had two near-heart attacks and who couldn’t walk without a stick,’ he says with a wink.
Just three years ago, Russell’s fame as TV’s foremost astrologer in the 80s had been consigned to history. He weighed nearly 27 stone and had become a suicidal recluse on his estate in Snowdonia. ‘I was in the bleakest place imaginable for a decade,’ he says quietly. ‘I was suffering from clinical depression and on antidepressants, I had prostate cancer, skin cancer on my face, I couldn’t go anywhere without an angina spray and I was so overweight I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. With the two near-heart attacks in 2005 and 2007 and my stick, I even had a blue disabled badge. But then I had a Eureka moment. I suddenly thought, “I could die.” It was 5 January 2009 and I said to myself, “You can’t walk without a stick. You can’t do anything. But you have to try everything.” I’m now around 16 stone thanks to diet and exercise.’
As the son of parents who worked at Pinewood studios – his mother dealing with contracts, his father as a set designer – Russell found himself at stage school although he wanted to become a teacher. He became a successful actor, appearing in repertory theatre as well as in sitcoms such as On The Buses and Please Sir! His theatre roles ranged from Me And My Gal to The King And I.
Astrology had been a sideline until the Queen Mother stopped to talk to him at the 1978 Ideal Home Exhibition, leading Diana, Princess of Wales, to seek his advice. But after two decades of fame in the 80s and 90s, Russell’s self- esteem began to dissolve and his weight ballooned. ‘After that Eureka moment I realised I was missing joy in my life so I decided to go back to my first love, musical theatre,’ he says.
He appeared in touring productions of The Rocky Horror Show and Under Milk Wood, then along came Strictly and everything changed once again. Last year he took over the title role in the West End musical The Wizard Of Oz. ‘I initially turned it down through lack of self-esteem. How could I follow Michael Crawford? Then Arlene Phillips, the choreographer, rang me, saying, “I hear you’ve turned it down.” The next thing Andrew Lloyd Webber came on the phone and said, “Now Russell, I gather you’ve turned down The Wizard Of Oz. Come and see me and we’ll talk about it.” So we did.’
Now he’s reunited with Flavia. They’ve been almost inseparable since Strictly, speaking every day on the phone. During training for the show she stayed in an apartment on his Snowdonia estate and helped him develop his Zalza fitness programme, which combines elements of different dances (its name is a cross between Zumba and salsa).
But now Russell is totally focused on Midnight Tango. ‘I was thrilled when Flavia asked me to join her and Vincent. I said, “But I’ve never danced the tango!” Flavia replied, “You’d done nothing before we met but you still did it.”’ Does he ever worry about slipping back into that dark place? ‘Why should I? I should be dead. Midnight Tango opens on my 62nd birthday and I’m so grateful. Every extra minute is a joy,’ he beams.
Lisa Sewards Midnight Tango opens at London’s Phoenix Theatre on 30 January. For tickets, tel: 0844 871 7629 or go to www.atgtickets.com.