Why women of a certain age are rooting for Debbie ... every quickstep of the way
READY, steady, rumba! Tonight the lovely Debbie McGee will once more climb aboard her size elf sparkly sandals, slip into a scrap of age-inappropriate chiffon and launch herself like a glory-bound, glitter-encrusted, neon blonde rocket, hell-bent on blowing up the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom by the sheer force of her eye-watering splits and flicky kicks.
When the grand finale of this series begins at 6.30pm tonight, the 59-yearold former magician’s assistant will be hoping to shimmy her way into the showbiz record books by becoming the oldest contestant ever to win the show.
And I, for one, will be rooting for her, every quick step of the way.
Dancing with her professional partner, the Sicilian-born Giovanni Pernice, Debbie has become an unlikely heroine for older women, flying a sequinned flag for the power and potential of the glamorous over-50s.
Without missing a beat, she has proved that there is still a tigress in the tank if you give a girl a steamy soundtrack, a sexy dance and a handsome Italian to wrap her limbs around. Down on Crone Boulevard, Debbie has bust open the locks on the ballroom of broken dreams, making it no longer the sole domain of the fruitier, younger contestants.
In between delivering an Argentine tango of scorching intensity and one of the best rumbas Strictly has ever seen, Debbie has become the darling of women of a certain age, women who rattle our bottles of calcium supplements like maracas as we cheer her on every week.
She is the first older woman to make it into the final Strictly four, proving that age is no barrier to achievement – but only if you have her discipline, her application and her years of ballet training as a young woman.
As judge Craig revel Horwood said to her after one particularly spirited salsa: ‘Whatever you are on darling, I want some.’
In the final, she is dancing against three other contestants who are young enough to be her children. Her main rival is singer Alexandra Burke, 29, who dances with Gorka Wotsisname. Also competing are 42-year-old soap star Joe McFadden and 33-year- old Gemma Atkinson.
THE Glitterball trophy is usually won by younger and fitter celebrates in their twenties or thirties, those toreadors and gym bunnies who are strong enough to compete through the three-month marathon that the show entails.
The oldest to ever win was cricketer Mark ramprakash, 37, when he won on a sympathy vote back in series three. The oldest woman was Caroline Flack, a stripling of a mere 35 when she won in 2014.
By contrast, contestants of Debbie’s age are usually the novelty turn, or the dud expected to crash out early on, crippled by blisters, their bodies a lattice of pulled muscles, bruises and snapped ligaments. Instead she has stormed ever onwards, twink-ling along on perfectly arched insteps, showing the flexibly and stamina of a woman half her age.
She and Giovanni have become known as Debbianni, with their terrifying lifts and daring routines helping this series to its highest ever viewing figures, with 17million each week.
Highlights have included Debbie’s week one splits for the finale of her paso doble; her week two standing splits at the end of her cha cha cha and in general the hamstring defying, knicker-flashing feats that many younger dancers could not accomplish without the aid of a hoist.
Yes, there has been the odd dis- as- tah, tah darling. That Ginger Spice wig and lumpe lumpen routine saw her in t the danceoff off during t the Blackpool pool week. I In Halloween een week, h her ending lift did not q quite go to plan, and she ended up in a legs akimbo, ungainly movement m that one critic called the ‘ this is wher where babies come from’ lift lift. Yet she has alw always come back stronger. Some fans of the show have complain complained about her taking part, pa as she did once tr train as a professional f i ld dancer – but to be fair, so do a great number of the show’s socalled amateurs. Her chief rival Alexandra has been trained to be a star since an early age, including dancing lessons. In a competition where age is her greatest handicap as well as her strength, Debbie could never hope to complete with the former X Factor winner’s thunderous energy and commitment. The last time ol’ Debbie McGee did the splits was at least 22 years ago. And her ballet training is also a formidable handicap, with its rigidity often working against her. In Latin dancing, it is all about the hips, baby.
APPEARING on Strictly Come Dancing has been ‘a dream come true’ for Debbie, but it has also served as a kind of therapy. For she is still grieving the death of Paul Daniels, the man she describes as ‘the legend I was lucky enough to have as my husband’. After being diagnosed with incurable brain cancer, he died two years ago. So underneath all the spangles and the froth, she is a still bereaved wife who is learning how to take the first steps towards the rest of her life. Courage on and off the dance floor – that’s another reason why we love her. So come on, Debbie!