STRICTLY’S RHYS: ‘IT’S LIKE BEING AT UNI’
CBBC’S Rhys Stephenson, 28, is loving life on tour
How is the Strictly tour going – are you feeling exhausted? The tour is amazing, it’s so much fun. But I am very exhausted! We had a day off yesterday and I slept slept – like, where you feel you need a nap just to recover from the sleep. I called it regeneration sleep. I’m surprised I didn’t wake up a completely different person. Has the tour brought everyone closer? We really did bond [on the show], but this is a different level. We all meet up afterwards, that’s the biggest thing. We have dinner together, we have lunch, we’ll go out for a walk and explore the city. Sara [Davies] has just gone out with a group to go for another flippin’ freezing cold swim.
We’re doing this kind of crazy stuff together now, which is great. I think that’s what the show should have been if COVID hadn’t been there. This is a wonderful way to make up for that. Does it feel a bit like you’re all at university together? Yes! It’s like we’re in dorms again. You learn who’s messy – which is mostly everyone – who’s quiet, who leaves it until the last minute to get on the bus. You learn a lot, especially with the dancers, who I watched on TV and thought they were all so perfect and incredible, and then you meet them and some of them are clumsy or goofy. Suddenly, they become human to you. It’s really wonderful. How has Strictly changed your life? Well, the fact that loads more people know who I am and seem to care is one thing! But also, I don’t think there’s anything else I could do that can scare me as much as Strictly. It’s a wonderful experience, but the fear of going out every night and doing a dance you’re not even sure you’ve mastered yet… I survived, though, so now I know there’s not much else that I can’t do. Unless it’s SAS: Who Dares Wins – there’s no way I’m doing that show! ■
Rhys Stephenson is currently touring the UK with Strictly Come Dancing: The Live Tour. Book at Strictlycomedancinglive.com
‘Loads more people know who I am now’