Karen, George, and Amber are this year's finalists. Are the final three themost worthy? Who do you think should have made the final instead and why?
Obviously,I think that LewisCopeprobably shouldhave made the final.He was without doubt one of the best maledancers thatwe'veever seenon Strictly. So, it is disappointing not to see him(in the final). Butit'shappened so many times before where somebodywho deserves to be there based on abilitydoesn’tmake it.
I think the problemis when somebody comes outin thefirst week andthey'reso good. I mean, Zoe Ball had that a little bit when I danced with her. And yet shewasn'ta dancer, soshe'dnever trained as a dancer. Shedidn'tgo to theatre school or anything like that. But because I was such a great teacher and I taught her so well, within four weeks she got the top marks in the first week, and I think seven weeks in a row she got top marks, which has never been done before.
Shealsogot the top marks in the first week, which has still never been beaten. Three nines and an eight.
I think the problemis,with Lewis doingso brilliantly in the first week, it turns people off them a little bit. Peoplethink,‘oh, well, theydon'tneed my vote.They'realready a brilliant dancer.’Althoughwe'vehad loads of dancers in the past that have won, like Jill Halfpenny and Jay McGuinness, for instance,hewas already a dancer.There'slots of examples I can give where the publichaven'tseen them as being dancers,even if theyhavebeen,andthey'vewon. So, you know, you never know(who will win).You never know how the public'sgonnatake it. But I think certainly in thesemi final, the best three went through.Balvinder haddone so brilliantly well to get through all those six dance offs and, and you know,she'dimproved a lot over the weeks, but the three best dancers went throughto the final.
This weekend will be Tess and Claudia's final live show. How do you think they will handle such an emotional episode? Do you thinkit'stime for them to wave goodbye?
It'sa difficult one becausewho'sto say thatit'stheir time togo?They'vedecided on their own that this is time to go. Tess has been there for 21 years, and Claudiawas doingItTakesTwo for a long time-17 years or something.
It'sa long time to be doing anything or any job.It'sjust nice thatthey'regoing to get a great send off.
Who do you think the public will vote as their winner? And who do you think should win?
Unfortunately, Amber has been drawn the ‘she's already a dancer card’ where the publicwon'tvote for her.
I do thinkit'sbetween Karen and George.I personally think that Georgeis more popularand in the final,it'sjust the audience vote. So, I think it could be that the audience votes for George to win.
What'samazing about him is that he was a complete non dancer and has turned into a dancer, andhe'sactually quitegood.He'squite a nice little performer andhe'sgrown in his performance.He'simproving as well.
Whereas Karen hasprobably alwaysbeen good from the first week, I mean we saw her go out there and do a jive and it was tremendous.
Although she has struggled with posture and things like that, butthat’snatural being a football player all her life. Hunched shoulders.She'sprobably noteven thought about posture untilshe'sgot on Strictly and nowsomebody'ssaying to you, “Get your shoulders back, pin those shoulder blades down.”
Sofor her, so much out of her comfort zone,she’sbeen brilliant.
Unfortunately, the best dancer is not going to win by the looks of it. Amber is just incredible. Her last dance and the dance she did in the dance off was very Gene Kelly of Fred Astaire, which I absolutely adore.
Who are you backing to host the show next year? Or do you think the BBC may rest the show for a year once the hosts leave?
I would love nothing more than Anton to be moved into that role because I thinkhe'sso loved by the public. He is Strictly through and through. He might not be the best presenter, but I think for the role, hewould be a good fit and every Strictly fan would love that if Antonwasput in that role.I think hedoesa great job, but I thinkit'ssomething that he wouldprobably liketo do. And I did speak to him recently and he said,yeah,I'dlove to do it. I thinkhe'sup for the gig.
Then somebody like Zoe Ball would be amazing becauseshe'sdone it before.She'dbe fabulous.She'smy mate.I'dlove to see her on there.
Or also, this is an outsider bet who I think would beabsolutely amazingand that is the original Tina Sparkles in the Strictly Ballroom movie. SoniaKruger, whopresentsDancing with the Stars in Australia.She would be incredible because she is like a Tess andshe'sfunny,she'squick witted,she'sa brilliant presenter and I think, why not?
Absolutely new but knows the job because she knows that job.She'sbeen doing it for years.She'sabsolutely brilliant. I love her.She'sa fantastic host and so funny and quickwitted.As anout of fieldpickthat nobody would know and everybody would be like,‘Oh my God, Tina Sparkles from the movie.’
She still looksincredible.She's60 and looks, she looks likeshe's40.
It feels likethere’san opportunity to try something different when Tess and Claudiadepart. What direction do you think Strictly should go in?
I thinkit'sfantastic thatwe'vehad two female presenters, not only on It Takes Two, but also on the main show. But I thinkit'stime for a man to be put in the role.
98% of our viewers are female andI'msure if you asked every single one of them, they would love to see a male in that role, whetherit'stwo males or whetherit'sa male and a female. But, you know, I think it will go back to that. Ormaybe adrag queen,maybe LaVoix?Who knows, who knows, who knows.
Strictly introduced the mystery dance element in this series, some people liked it, some peopledidn't. What do you see askind of thefuture of the show, Ian? Do you feel like the show has to evolve and do new things?
Whatthey'vedone brilliantly is to evolve the show and be completely inclusive todifferent typesof people.Ithinkthat'sbeen the key to its success to a certain extent. I do thinkattimesthatit would bereally niceto gokind of backto basics a little bit-let'ssee some more traditional ballroom numbers. Some traditional ballroom dancing, which is what the show was built on and made it successful in the first place because people love it. You know, somebody goes out there and does a beautiful waltz. It tops any other dance.Abeautiful foxtrot is goingtopany other dance done properly.
Let'ssee some more ballroom dancers on the show, some more ballroom pros, because we have so many Latin pros on the show.It'sjust a shamewe'relosing that element of ballroom on the show because wedon'thave great ballroom dancers like,let'ssay AntonDuBeke,that sort of classic looking dancer who would reallygive another element to the show.
Who was the most successful pro on the show?Anton.Why not try and emulate that and bring somebody in like that? There are so many of them in thedanceworld. Eccentric.Unique.Pristine ballroom dancers.There'sso many of them that,I'msurethere'ssomebody out there.
You know what it like to compete in the final. Obviously, you won the Australian version last year.What'sthe most important thing that the finalists should be focusing on this week? And is there any advice that you would give them before they step out?
It'sfunny because last year, when I made the final of Dancing with the Stars, it was the most relaxed seriesI'veever done.
Before the semi-final and the final, I went to the beach in the morning and had breakfast on the beach. I went for a swim, had a little sunbathe and then I went to the studio at one in the afternoon.
I got to the studio andthey'reall there, tense and walking around with worried looks on their faces, andI'vejust come off the beach. Literally. I was so chilled and so relaxed, and I just had nothing to lose, and Idon'tthink they have.
Once you make the final, you have got nothing to lose. You should just enjoy the experience and go out there and give it everythingyou'vegot.That'sthe advice I would give the three finalists. Youcan'tdo anything about technique anymore.It'sall about performance.
What will be, will be. Theydon'thave any control over what the public are going to do, so just enjoy it. It is a once in a lifetime experience at the end of the day for these three contestants.
I never won Strictly and Anton never won Strictly. Vincent Simone never won Strictly.Didn'tharm us in our careers whatsoever.We'vegone on to do bigger and more amazing things.It'snot the end of the worldif youdon’twin.
Look at Zoe Ball. Zoe Ball was third. She went on to present it takes two for 10 years and I thinkshe'llagree that it was a turning point in her life and in her career.I'mgrateful that I waspart of that.
Did you partner become relaxed after your beach preparation?
I think everybodywas alittle bit shocked, to be honest.BecauseI’mso experienced andI'vebeen there before, it was like somebodywasgivingmethat experience all over again.
The first time I danced in a final, I was stressed!I was doing and trying my best, butbeing stressed about everything, and getting wound up about the littlest things and getting tired for no reason over the stress.
It was 20 years after I did my first series that Iactually wonthe Glitter Ball and.It was a full circle moment. AndI think whathelped me win was the fact thatI'vehad the experience. I was chilled.
I was like,‘Okay, we're going to perform this at our very best.’Andit'sall aboutcelebrating life and enjoying yourself. Andthat'swhat we did.My partner,I think shewas okay with it.I think the other competitorswerea bit shocked, but she was okay.
The one topic that divides the fan base more than anything else: should the show have contestants that are dancers or have dance experience in it?What'syour thoughts on that?
How can you police it? How are you going to knowifsomebody hadloads of lessons when they were, like, five years old?
Or somebody went todanceschoolwhen they were younger.There'sbeen many people that have been toartsschool that did dancing, singing, acting, but they wereactorsand they were terrible dancers.Some people arealwaysgoing to be more experienced.
Women are going to be more experienced than the men becauseawomandancesa lot more thanthe average man.They'vealways got that advantage.
The men always get voted for more becausethe show is watchedmainly bya femaleaudience.Sothere'sthat going on.
At the end of the day,it'san entertainment show.That is what I would tell the fans.
Andas long aswe'rehugely entertained,then the producers aredoing their job. Iwouldn'ttake it too seriously.
