Ian Waite spoke to Zingo Bingo about his time on Strictly Come Dancing as a professional and shares his thoughts on the current series as it reaches its climax.
He first appeared on Strictly in 2004 as a professional dancer and was a part of the show until 2009, during which he partnered with Zoe Ball, Denise Lewis, Mica Paris, Penny Lancaster-Stewart, Jodie Kidd and Jade Johnson.
What first inspired you to become a dancer?
Well, I always watched those Golden Age Hollywood movies with my grandmother on a Saturday afternoon, and there was a lot of musicals with the big set pieces; things like Singing in the Rain with Gene Kelly and, loads of films with Fred Astaire, those lovely old movies.
Those films sparked my first interest in dance. They would have been the first thing that I would have seen related to dance. But it wasn't till years later I realised, maybe that was the connection because I loved them so much. My favourite was Gene Kelly. I liked Fred Astaire, but, for me, Gene Kelly was more charismatic. Fred Astaire was quite classic and formal which was very different than Gene Kelly.
But to be honest, I would never have danced, if it wasn't for my parents divorcing when I was 10. It’s a great story, my father was told there were lots of single women at the local dance school.
So he thought, I'll go along. He loved it so much, he was going three or four times a week. And then he said to me, I want you to go with your brother. I was 10 and my brother was 5. I was like, ‘Dad, no, I'm playing rugby and football. I'm in the school teams. I don't want to go to dance class because my friends will take the mickey out of me.’
So, I just took my brother along to begin with, and I was there looking after him and watching. I took him for about three or four weeks and then one day they just got me up for a dance and the rest is history.
I loved it so much. I was really lucky because my dance teacher, Mary Richardson, was a former top dancer, a former south of England champion. She was one of the top dancers of her time. She took me under her wing and she used to take me to London to all the top coaches in the world at the age of 14. So, I had that exposure to top, top training so young…And then I was European champion by the time I was 18.
I think because of that training, I'd had that three or four years of training with the top coaches in the world, Shirley Ballas was in before me sometimes, it just snowballed from there.
My dance teacher then became my stepmother because my dad married her! Whoever told him about meeting women at the dance class was right!
Wow.
It's a very small world. We all know each other.
That's quite a story. You've obviously just finished the Return of the Legends Tour. What was your favourite part of the tour?
There are a few things, actually. Getting back with the boys is such a joy. I wasn'treally sure how it was going to work because we've all done our own shows and there's quite a lot of big egos there. People like Brendan Cole, James Jordan, are they going to be able to share the stage without kind of wanting to take it over?
I think it was quite clear early on in the training that we were all going to get along brilliantly. We all choreographed our own solo numbers, and I’m sitting there watching the boys thinking to myself, ‘this is going to be unbelievable because you've got the best of the best dancing at their peak.’
It’s a show that allows us to do what we do better than anyone else. It really is quite something – we’re the legends of dance and we’ve still got it!
It was a bit of a shock to all of us that we were so on top of our game. Also, when you’ve got a bunch of world-class dancers together, the competition brings out the best in you as a performer. We drive each other on.
There’s definitely friendly competition between the boys. Who could be the best dancer? Who's going to have the best show dance?
One of the best things about doing the tour is seeing our fans again, going on tour and seeing the love that they have for us still after 20 years. There’s that wonderful nostalgic thing of harking back to the good old days. It was 21 years ago since I started strictly and 21 years since Brendan started as well. So, you know, it's a long time.
I just, look and I think, ‘I can'tactually believewe're still doing it because I am the oldest. The body's holding out – thank god!
Tell us about the new iteration of The Legends tour, Legends in Vegas. What can audiences look forward to next year?
We are actually in the development stage of the production right now, just in the creative process of it.
There are obvious things that we're going to be doing. We're going to be doing Rat Pack, the classic Rat Pack songs. We'll also probably have an Elvis tribute in there. Vegas is a rich creative territory, so there will be plenty of us to lean into and look at.
We did suggest to our producers that we should go to Vegas for a little boys trip in April, obviously for research purposes (laughs)! I think that would be carnage, to be honest. It would be like The Hangover movies. Somebody would get a face tattoo and somebody would get married by Elvis, it would be fantastic.
But to be honest, with the actual creative process, we haven't nailed exactly what we’re doing yet. We’re working through it at the moment. There's still loads of time before we need to decide how the show will be structured, but it will be a great show!
Strictly Come Dancing
There was a shock result at the weekend as Lewis Cope was eliminated. What are your thoughts on that?
Seeing Lewis Cope get eliminated, that felt goes like a travesty, really.
I think he was up there with the best male dancers that have ever appeared on the show. He could even be the best, and he gets knocked out in the quarterfinals. It's criminal.
It certainly created shockwaves.
I just think that it’s interesting that these things happen when the judges draw three people on the leaderboard. If the judges hadn’t done that, then you wouldn't have had those two good dancers (Amber Davies and Lewis Cope) in the bottom.
You might have had one of them in the bottom, but you wouldn't have had both of them in the bottom. It makes you think if there is something else going on – it’s just very cloak and dagger.
It’s an unfortunate situation that that is what happened. I’ve seen it before where couples draw, and that when the debate about the public vote comes in. There’s been a lot of cases where the best dancers are voted off because of the public vote, and that happened again at the weekend with Lewis. It doesn’t seem fair to me and perhaps the producers need to address the balance, because it becomes more of a popularity contest than a contest based on skill, and the couples that are popular will always have an advantage.
It doesn't balance it out because you're never going to have three couples getting the same public vote, are you?
No.
So, some of the performers who may not have the same level of skill are pushed up in the rankings. The public vote holds more influence over who remains and leaves the competition than the judges vote, and sometimes, like at the weekend with Lewis, the wrong person gets voted off the show.
That's, that's the issue (with the public vote) really, which is a shame. It is a great shame. But then, you know, Lewis would have made the final or the semi-final if he'd have had a better dance and his dance wasn't his best dance.
Unfortunately, that's what happens. Sometimes you can just have a bad dance and everybody else got a good one and then that's it. You're in the bottom two.
With the selection of the dance, where does that come from? Is that led more by the professional or is it a production decision?
It’s production. They decide exactly what dances you're doing all the way through. And now it'svery different than how it was when I was on Strictly, because when I was on Strictly, it was just the dance. You were given a dance and the professional had to do all the choreography. And if you had a theme, you would be making the intro and exit. Now they give you the theme, they give you the song, they say, ‘This is your intro, this is your exit. This is what we're going to have on stage. Props wise.’
There’s so much creative around each dance now. The professional’s involvement is just that little bit of choreography in the middle. Everything else is sorted for you already, which actually makes it a lot easier because when you’ve got all the bells and whistles going on around you. You're going to look much better, aren't you? But it's great. What they do now with all themes and everything is pretty incredible. And the makeup and the costuming is amazing! That's why it's such a great Saturday night entertainment show, because you do get the glitz and glamour of Strictly. It’s a feast for the eyes!
Who will get eliminated this weekend?
This sounds terrible, but for me, Balvinder is not the best dancer. So, she should be the one that goes out in the semi-final. But, her public vote could be very good. So, so maybe she won't go out. Maybe she will stay in and make it to the final. We'll just have to wait and see.
Balvinder is probably the worst dancer left in the competition. For me, she's the one that should go home in the semifinal, and the others should make the final.
After Sunday night’s elimination, anything can happen. I do think that the public vote completely flipped the judges results on its head.
It just goes to show how important and influential the public vote is in the show. We had that scenario where we had two of the best dancers (Lewis Cope and Amber Davies) in the bottom two.
George's public vote is very high.
Obviously, because of her going bottom two, Amber will have to be at the top of the leaderboard on Saturday or else she could be going home. If she finds herself in the bottom two, I think there is a good chance that she is in trouble.
What advice would you give the couples ahead of this week’s semi-final?
Just go out there and perform like your life depends on it. Go out there and give the best possible version of yourself as you can – don’t have any regrets.
When you’re a pro, and really anybody who's made the semi-final, you're like, ‘Oh, we’ve nearly made it to the final,’ and that is what you’re hoping to do before the series starts. It’s close and you can feel it.
I’ve made the final a couple of times (2004 with Denise Lewis and 2005 with Zoe Ball). I must admit, personally, it's not like I've got into a final and been like, ‘Oh, I have to win this.’ Maybe that's why I didn't win it (laughs)!
I did win Dancing with the Stars in Australia last year. You just want to complete the task, and to dance in the final is kind of completing the task, really. Everybody wants to make that final. That’s the goal at the beginning.
What advice would you give to the dancers competing in the semi-final this week?
One of the most challenging things to manage for all of the contestants who make it to the quarterfinals and further is managing their schedule. You get a lot less time to work on your dances because you're doing more interviews, you're having to do more VTs, and you've got more dances.
There's two dancers in the semi final. They've got to start working on those. They really will not have a lot of time.
If I was to give them some advice, I would say try and make the choreography similar to what they've done before. So put stuff in that they've already done. Whether it's an over sway, a throwaway, or certain spins or things that they were good at, you just say, ‘Okay, we're going to throw that in this dance.’
There's a lot of dances that you can do the same moves in, so if they've done it before, it gets a bit easier.
Amber Davies is used to batting away nasty comments after her Love Island experience, but it's never gets easier. She made some comments and asked the audience to be kinder towards her. When that kind of thing happens, how does it affect the professional as well? How do you block it out and deal with it?
Personally, I've never really looked at people's comments because you'll always have good ones and bad ones. I've been quite lucky. I've had always good ones.
I think it'sprobably better to just not look at them personally. I know people do and get on with the job. It doesn't make any difference what one person thinks. It really doesn't. It's about, you and your partner doing the best performance on a Saturday night. And that's it.
There’s enough pressure on the contestants as it is. It makes it even harder when there's lots of things going on outside, especially when you’re deep in the competition and the pressure cranks up.
Every season, this always comes to the boil and there hasn't really been a kind of a romance or anything from this series, but the talk of the Strictly Curse. Obviously, Strictly is a unique, intense environment where you've got people that are in constantly building a physical connection with each other. And it is an environment where you could sort of understand how people could fall in love….
I mean, hot dancers. You’ve got these hot dancers and you're rubbing yourself up against them? That's the part that for us it's like, ‘Listen, for us it's just work.’ But yes, I can imagine for some contestants, if they're not used to it, coming from that sort of world, then I understand how it happens.
I think as an actor, you'reprobably a bit more used to it because you have to act and maybe kiss somebody on screen or whatever. But there will be other people from different walks of life that are on Strictly, like athletes, for instance. It must be really difficult for them to have their personal space become their partners.
It is very intimate. I mean, you're together for three months. Eight hours a day. With your nether regions connected. The ballroom dancing, they have to connect down there (laughs)!
When romance blossoms, and maybe itshouldn’t, is it a case of ‘what happens on tour, stays on tour’. Is there an unwritten rule where everyone looks the other way?
Yeah, definitely. I think it'sprobably like what happens with pilots. And I know this because I was married to a pilot, but it's the same I suppose as going on tour.
I mean certainly for most of the pros, unless you do have a very special connection, you're just doing a job and for us we can come in really close proximity to somebody and it's just, that's what we do. We wouldn't get embarrassed because that's part of the dance or that's the Rumba, for instance.
Some dances are quite sexy and sensual and close. At the end of the day, we would never want to see anyone get hurt, but it’s a matter of fact and it’s human nature, or human behaviour that these things can happen when you’re spending eight intense hours a day with someone and you find them attractive.
You mentioned that you were on the Australian version of the show and won it last year. You're very much fit and ready to go. Do you and your fellow legends think you could teach the younger generation of dancers a thing or two? Could you show these whipper snappers how it's done?
I think if you asked anyone, is a 53-year-old dancer is going to win Strictly? Most people would probably laugh! People would say that was too old! But, as you said, I won the Australian version last year, so it’sreally not like that at all.
I think people's perspective, or perception is that us older guys can’t deliver physically, but the truth couldn’t be more different.
I'm really fit. I play a lot of sport. I'm in the gym all the time. I'm still dancing. Listen, the most successful dancer on Strictly and the one that everybody knows is Anton Du Beke, and he was the oldest by a long way.
I think that sort of character and that experience shines through, especially on a show like that. It's not all about let's have a young gorgeous pro dancer. What's wrong with an old gorgeous dancer?
Legends like myself, Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone, we could show these guys how it’s done. I think we’reactually getting better with age!
I couldn't agree with you more. And also as well, with The Legends, would you guys, if you were asked, maybe you have been, would perform on the show or the Christmas special if it allowed with your schedule? Would you guys go back and do a big sort of ensemble piece?
I think the public would love to see the Legends on Strictly do a show dance without doubt. People would love to see the five of us (Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone) do an ensemble dance from our show. I think the public would absolutely love it, but I don't think the BBC or the bigwigs or the producers would.
Unfortunately, people at the BBC don't want people harking back to the old pros. I don't think this is something they would want to push, and that is a real shame because the people that tune in every week, the real fans of the show, they would love to see it. The public would love to see it.
The public would definitely love to see it. And it's proven by the fact that, you know, you guys keep doing these shows and they keep selling out.
Absolutely. And we're selling out really fast. We were lucky. Our producers signed us up before we started this last tour, so were able to say at the end of every show, at the end of the night, get your tickets for next year.
The audience could get their tickets for next year’s tour instantly. And they did. Places like Southend, Cardiff, nearly sold out, which is amazing.
If you could pick anyone from the celebrity world, past or present, as an ideal contestant, who would be the one person you'd love to see take to the stage on Strictly Come Dancing and ideally, dance with you?
Listen, I've been really lucky in my career. I've danced with some phenomenal girls. I danced with Darcy Bustle a couple of times on Strictly. I've danced with, like, Sonia Kruger, Tina Sparkles in Australia. I feel very honoured and very lucky to have done that.
It's a difficult one, isn't it, because you can like somebody. But I get on very well and I know quite well, Miranda Hart, and I think she would be hilarious. She's very tall and goofy, but I think she would be hilarious and I'd love to see her on Strictly.
Miranda and me, that would be my dream dance partner.
I didn't expect that answer.
Well, I danced with the best of the best. I danced with Darcy. I've danced with Sonia Kruger. Miranda would be great.
