Strictly Come Dancing’s celebrities and professional dancers are currently in rehearsals for this year’s major UK tour of Strictly Come Dancing Live.
After more than 10 million viewers tuned into the Series 21 finale at Christmas, the hot-footed celebs and their professional partners will be twirling their way around the UK for 30 spectacular performances across nine huge venues on the Strictly Come Dancing Live UK Tour.
The tour starts tomorrow, 19 January 2024, at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena, and then plays the Utilita Arena Sheffield, Utilita Arena Newcastle, OVO Hydro Glasgow, M&S Bank Arena Liverpool, First Direct Arena Leeds, AO Arena Manchester, Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and finally The O2 in London, culminating on 11 February 2024.
The celebrities include 2023 winner, actor Ellie Leach dancing with Vito Coppola; actor Layton Williams dancing with Nikita Kuzmin; actor and model Bobby Brazier dancing with Dianne Buswell; tennis champion and presenter Annabel Croft dancing with tour partner Graziano Di Prima; journalist and broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy dancing with tour partner Jowita Przystal; and broadcaster and presenter Angela Scanlon dancing with Carlos Gu.
The judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood (who is also on directing duties) will be presiding over the proceedings from behind their on-stage table, dishing out advice, good-natured critiques and, the contestants will be hoping, some of those coveted perfect tens.
But it’s the audience, not the judges, who ultimately get to decide who wins the shiny Glitterball Trophy at the end of each show. Shirley, Anton and Craig will be weighing in with their scores but it’s the public vote – delivered via text from the comfort of their seats in the arena as they choose their favourite couple – that really counts.
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We caught up with the judges and celebrities ahead of the tour.
Reigning champs Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola will be recreating their American Smooth and Paso Doble routines, and Ellie is still basking in the glory of coming first. “It feels like I’ve just woken up from the best dream ever and I can’t believe that we won,” says the former Coronation Street star. “I didn’t realise how much it would have an impact on my personal life in terms of how I’ve changed. I’ve become a lot more confident and resilient.”
She grins. “Now I can’t wait to get the outfits back on, the hair and make-up, and go out there and have a great time. And I love dancing with Vito. From the day that we met I knew we’d have a laugh but we also worked really hard and he’s an amazing teacher.”
Vito returns the compliment, saying: “I can’t even describe how proud I am of Ellie’s progress. She’d never danced before but every week she got better and better. It’s like we’re two pieces of the same puzzle and when you put those two pieces together they fit perfectly. We had the best time and now we get to do it again on the tour.”
Finalist Layton Williams promises to bring “everything that I gave you every Saturday night but bigger and better – with more fabulousness and more drama. I just want to get out on that stage and have the best time ever. It’s about having a ball and serving the audience some brilliant entertainment.”
The musical theatre and TV star has toured with the likes of Rent and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. “But only to audiences of 3,000 max. Double or quadruple the numbers and you’ve got one happy Layton! I’ve never performed in an arena before, so it’s a bucket-list moment for me.”
Williams and Nikita Kuzmin will be doing the Quickstep and the Paso Doble, and Kuzmin can’t wait to spend time with his dancing partner again. “We have such a brilliant communication because we have such a brilliant friendship,” he gushes. “There’s a chemistry that translates to the dance floor. He trusted me 100% with everything and it paid off in the end for both of us.”
Fellow finalist Bobby Brazier is excited about touring as he and Dianne Buswell do the Samba and the Viennese Waltz for arena-goers up and down the country. “I’m so looking forward to being on the road and seeing all these places that I’ve never been to before,” says the model and EastEnders star. “Dancing in front of thousands of people is going to be unbelievable. It’s like being a rock star. Any time I’ve seen someone perform at The O2 or wherever it’s been, I’ve always left feeling inspired. Now I get to do it myself. It’s a dream come true.”
Of his Strictly journey, Bobby adds: “We just took it one step and one dance at a time and naturally I’m proud that I got as far as I did. There were times where I felt nervous but just the overwhelming feeling throughout was ‘This is pretty cool’.”
Dianne is a fan, saying: “When I first met Bobby he was like a bundle of energy and joy, and his smile would light up a room. He still is all of that but he’s also proven to be such a hard worker. The proudness for me went way beyond just the dancing because I also saw him turn into this young but mature adult.”
Presenter and broadcaster Angela Scanlon will be dancing the Charleston and the Argentine Tango with her TV partner Carlos Gu and she’s rearing to go, grinning: “I genuinely can’t wait. When you do Strictly the show is watched by millions of people but you don’t see their faces looking back at you, so the idea that you will be greeted by thousands of wide-eyed people, hopefully squealing, is so exciting. It’s like an extra treat without the extra pressure and I love dancing with Carlos, his smiling face and his encouragement. We just have a ball together.”
The couple made it to ninth place on TV but for the tour they have their eye on the prize, with Carlos saying of the Glitterball Trophy: “It would be a privilege to win one, so my message to the arena crowds is ‘Please vote for us’. And whatever happens, we’re going to have a great time because the Strictly tour is always fantastic fun. This will be my second live tour and I love every second of it. And being around Angela, with her energy and charisma, is one of the best things I could ask for.”
TV legend Angela Rippon is looking forward to revisiting the Argentine Tango and Cha-Cha-Cha with Kai Widdrington. “The Argentinian Tango is one that I wanted to learn,” Angela beams, “so being in the competition long enough to be able to do it was a real real bonus for me, although the Cha-Cha-Cha is huge fun too.”
And 79-year-old Rippon is chuffed by the reaction to her appearance on Strictly. “Even before I started on the show a lady stopped me in the supermarket and said ‘I’m so pleased you’re doing Strictly because women of our age and our hair colour are invisible and you’re going to make headlines for us’. And subsequently, of course, I did.”
Kai is amazed by her stamina and dedication, noting: “As a 28-year-old I should be in the prime of my life but I have days where I feel tired and lethargic and I need a coffee to wake me up. But Angela is always so sprightly and full of positive energy. And we get on like a house on fire. There’s a 50-year age gap but I feel like we’ve known each other for 50 years already and we’re best mates.”
The seven headlining couples will get to perform their favourite routines from the TV series, as well as new dances and eye-popping group numbers. Bringing even more glitz and glamour to the tour dates (all of which will again feature a British Sign Language interpreter on large screens on either side of the stage) will be professional dancers Nadiya Bychkova, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Robbie Kmetoni, Jake Leigh and Nancy Xu for the supersized live shows.
Graziano Di Prima has previously danced in the ensemble as well as with celebrity partners. “But the feeling is the same,” he insists as he takes to the floor this year with Annabel Croft. “When you get out there you can’t hear the music for the first ten seconds because the audience is so loud. Every emotion is amplified and it’s incredible. Now I get to share that with Annabel. We connected from the first time we started dancing together. It just flowed and we were like ‘Wow, this feels beautiful’.”
Di Prima and tennis champ turned presenter Annabel (who danced with Johannes Radebe on the TV show) will be serving up their American Smooth and Samba, with Croft admitting: “It’s a bit overwhelming, to be honest. At the start I never thought I could dance in front of even the studio audience and I was very much out of my comfort zone.” Now she’s a convert, adding: “I think everyone should have dance in their lives. I run, I play tennis and I’ve done a bit of yoga but dancing has done more for my body than anything else has ever done because you use every part of it. It’s so joyful. It’s very freeing of the spirit and the emotions.”
Annabel and Graziano are one of two new dance partnerships for this year’s tour, giving audiences something fresh and exciting to see. Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who was partnered with Lauren Oakley on TV, will be dancing with Jowita Przystał on the live dates.
As the seventh person to be eliminated on the TV show, the newsreader hopes to bag a Glitterball Trophy on the tour for either the Cha-Cha-Cha or Quickstep. “It would be nice to win one and the tour gives us 30 chances to do just that,” he laughs, adding that being on Strictly was a life-changer. “I came in thinking it was just going to be a couple of weeks, that I would probably go out first or second and it would just be one of those fun things to have done. But I enjoyed it much more than I would have ever imagined. It made me very happy, put a big smile on my face and put me in touch with all sorts of joyful feelings I probably haven’t felt since I was a kid.”
Jowita Przystał was glued to his routines with Lauren across the series. “I was absolutely amazed by Krishnan when he did the Cha-Cha-Cha in the first week,” she explains. “I’m really good friends with Lauren and it was her first year with a partner, so to see her shining with Krishnan filled me with pure joy. I’m really honoured that now I’m the one who gets to continue that beautiful journey with him on the tour. It’s a spectacular celebration and pure joy both for us for and the audience.”
It will also be an incredible night out for Strictly-loving families. The live event has been sashaying its way up and down the country since 2008 and this year it promises to be even bigger, better and more exciting than ever.
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