Wrinkli come dancing
The TV favourite silenced critics last year when, at 55, he became the dance contest’s oldest winner.
Actress Nina Wadia, 52, and actor Greg Wise, 55, are among those competing this time around.
And Bill wants them to feel they have as much chance of lifting the trophy as their younger rivals.
He told the Daily Star Sunday: “My win on Strictly showed that age is no barrier. It’s not necessarily the case that you’ll have no chance just because you’re older.
“I think it has encouraged a lot of older people that they can go on the show and not only enjoy it but actually do well on it and be taken seriously.
“I think older contestants will now go into it thinking they have a chance.”
When Bill joined last year’s series, bookies gave him dismal odds of winning because of his age. There were plenty of ignorant comments on social media too.
But the ageism didn’t get him down in the slightest.
In fact, it gave the comedian the extra push he needed. He said: “A lot of people wrote me off early on as the joke. They were saying, ‘He won’t last long.’
“When you start training, it’s quite a steep learning curve. There is so much to take in. It is difficult to process any kind of plan of how it might work out.
“But after two or three weeks, I was thinking, ‘Actually, I’m really enjoying this.’
“I saw that if you commit yourself to it and you put in the hours then you get more out of it. I have always been one for putting my heart and soul into something. And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t do well a point?.’ I th I’d like to wrong.’ Pa was what d do better.”
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