Kelvin Fletcher Q&A
Soapstar superstar: Strictly Come Dancing winner explains how he takes his racing very seriously
To much of the population Kelvin Fletcher is the star of the Emmerdale soap and the winner of the BBC’s hit show Strictly Come Dancing. Yet with this, to many of us motorsport aficionados, such a celebrity trying their hand at racing no doubt brings forth a few disdainful assumptions.
But we have enough evidence in Fletcher’s case to know he’s not participating in motorsport as a passing fancy. And his answers to Motorsport News readers’ questions underline the point.
Firstly he’s been competing since 2012, earning his spurs in Mighty Minis. And his skills have taken him, via the British Touring Car Championship, all the way to British GT’s Pro-Am GT4 championship in 2019, driving alongside Le Mans LMP2 winner Martin Plowman in a Beechdean Aston Martin. This year he and Plowman, after a year’s Covidrelated hiatus, graduate to British GT’s frontrunning GT3 contest in a JRM Racing Bentley.
The pair further have started their own racing team, Paddock Motorsport, which made its debut in Mazda MX-5 Supercup last year and now in 2021 has expanded to GT Cup. As we find out, Fletcher has grand plans for the squad.
We told you that he takes his racing seriously…
Question: What has been the biggest challenge in your career? What has been the most rewarding part of your career? Sharon
Via Twitter
Kelvin Fletcher: “Two [challenges] stand out. First it’s a challenge [that’s] part and parcel: failure and it’s how you determine what failure is. I personally like to use [the word] ‘redirection’.
“You don’t get that particular part [as an actor] or you don’t win that particular race, whatever it is, it’s a constant and that is tough to take. I remember first going for auditions as a kid for amazing parts and not getting that can be quite soul destroying, but you quickly learn to be resilient. For every 10 jobs you go for you only get one, which for most people is a pretty scary thought but as an actor it’s very much what we do.
“And I can relate that to racing. There’s races I’ve wanted to win, there’s certain things I’ve wanted to do in certain sessions and I’ve not quite achieved that and it’s just that constant of readapting and keeping that belief.
“Most recently was my time on Strictly because that was a very intense three or four-month period. I was completely out of my comfort zone; I was going onto a big entertainment show as the underdog. It was a huge challenge to learn something new. Could I dance? I don’t know, [but] I was confident that whatever I do I can give it my all and the sense of the
unknown really excites me. How will I come across? How will I dance? What will my nerves be like? Will people vote for me? Will I forget the moves?
“A lot of them were not in my control. All I was in control of is rehearsing, practising, going out there and being myself, and if that meant that I danced well then I danced well, if that meant that people voted for me then great.
“But looking back that was some of the most intense work I’ve done for quite a few years. Just mentally, physically, away from my family, and I pushed through and I did really well, so it was a really proud moment.
“And the biggest achievements, racingwise winning a title with Plowy [Martin Plowman] in 2019, GT4 Pro-Am title, was massive for us and we just missed out on it the year before through a mechanical failure. So the year after we did everything we could, and we came away with the goods.
“So looking forward now, I’ve got other aspirations I want to do this year in GT3 but with my own team as well, and I believe in everything I do: as a driver, now as a team owner, as an actor. I will fail, or come up short, but I’m resilient and that belief will put me in good stead going forward and I know that
I can achieve ultimately what I feel
I can achieve.”
Question: Does any of the dancing training come in handy when racing? Anything you took from Strictly to racing?
Helena Hicks
Via email
KF: “It’s that ability to focus mentally. There’s an element of fitness there but I like to think I’m quite fit which you can reap the benefits for when racing. Especially endurance racing.
“Mentally is the one transferable skill that I managed to hone in on and pick up on, where your nerve’s naturally up, your adrenaline’s pumping, your heart rate’s up, but you’re still applying the process, applying the routine, the dance moves that you’ve made, applying that set of skills you’ve got as a driver to execute what you need to execute, whether that’s the start of a race or a qualifying session, keep things simple, don’t overthink anything and, especially racing, expect the unexpected.
“And just be quietly confident that you’ve done the work already: I’ve put the hours in rehearsing, I’ve put the hours in in testing, now is just the time of keeping calm and remaining focused and delivering, and giving it my absolute best, and thinking of nothing other than that. And then when you’re looking back on your race or a dance or whatever, you make your notes, then make your adjustments and then try and take those into the next situation.”
Question: How would you say your racing compares to your acting in importance? Is it 50-50?
Alexander Cameron
Via email
KF: “Everything I do is of absolute importance so it’s hard to gauge what’s more important. When I’m racing at a race weekend that’s the most important thing, it overrides everything. When I’m acting that is the most important thing. Very rarely do you get a situation where you’re juggling the two. Whatever I’m doing I just apply myself wholeheartedly.
“Racing feels like it’s very much a part of me now. Yes I’m still relatively new-ish to racing, I started racing in 2012 with no experience other than as a spectator and a lover of motorsport in all forms. And the similarities as an actor [are] I started doing something as a hobby when I was a kid. I just liked doing drama and improvisations and roleplays. So something that started out as a hobby became a career.
“Same with racing, it started out as a bit of a hobby, I’d always wanted to do it, I bought a little Mini, I went racing, and now it’s fantastic and I treat it like a career. I always had my doubters like in anything, because I came to racing with a spotlight, people will not want me to succeed in racing because they feel it will undermine the sport. But I’ve got every right to be there as the next person and my record speaks for itself. I’m very proud of my achievements so far, and my pace does speak for itself so I’m very confident.
I’ve had some amazing opportunities and I’ve taken every opportunity that
I’ve had. I’ve enjoyed every minute.” MN: You mentioned some people not wanting you to succeed, how did you find people within racing treated you in the early days, was there resistance to this celebrity coming in?
KF: “Yeah, there’s always resistance, but I’m used to it. You’re very resilient, you have to be, people because you’re in the public eye they’ll have already put you in a box.
“I’ve experienced it many times.
The amount of times in a paddock, in a supermarket, people they’ve said ‘oh you’re actually really nice aren’t you?’ [And I say] ‘Alright thank you, why wouldn’t I be?’You judge on how you find people. I don’t see myself as any different.
“Competitive-wise you’re not going to be taken seriously, [people] thinking ‘oh you’re some celebrity coming in wants to do a bit of racing’. Drivers make mistakes and it’s part of racing.
Somebody like me does it’s ‘oh he’s terrible’. Everything’s times 10.
“But again that galvanises you, there’s a resilience and that burns inside me, I think ‘I’ll show them’. The racing community were a little like that but in other ways as well they were very accepting and shared my ambitions and beliefs. The few that did they’re very much part of my racing journey now, and [among] the others I’ve started to prove a lot of people wrong. [There’s] my longevity in the sport, people think actually yeah he is serious about this, he does love our sport, and I absolutely love your sport, I loved it as a spectator since I was born.
“It’s something that I’m still hugely honoured to be part of and the chance seems crazy. I started out, I bought my own little classic Mini and went racing at Oulton Park in a little local club championship, fast forward I was out at Castle Combe with my own team yesterday and my own articulated lorry, testing a couple of Mazda MX-5s we’ve got, doing a bit of tuition with one of our customers, I’m at the JRM Bentley factory tomorrow ahead of our GT3 campaign this year. I do still pinch myself.
“I’m working extremely hard behind the scenes, making all this happen. This is not gifted to me, every sponsor, every partnership, every team, every deal, I’ve done it myself. Yes I’ve had help along the way and people taking punts with me, but I’d like to think that I’ve paid them back. I’m now part of a little loyalty group with Paddock, with Plowman, currently with