winner Bill Bailey has admitted he feels “uncomfortable” when the stars appearing on the show don’t give it their all. Bill was paired with in the 2020 competition and the pair went on to lift the coveted glitterball trophy.
Speaking exclusively to , Bill says that he decided to “throw myself into this [the show] to get the most out of it” and revealed that he feels “uncomfortable” when the celebrities taking part don’t take the opportunity seriously.
“I’ve never trained to that level before, that intensity. I’ve never really had any choreography. I never learned any steps. So it was all new to me,” he concedes. “But I made a decision early on. I thought, ‘I’m going to have to throw myself into this to get the most out of it’.
“You only appear on the show once [and] you get this great opportunity with a professional [to train] over what might be months. You’ve got to take it with both hands, and you’ve got to get every ounce out of it,” he passionately extolled as he spoke over Zoom. “What I felt was I wanted to show a respect…for the dancers.”
He continued: “I always find a bit uncomfortable when people come on make fun of it. Or are like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m just gonna half do it, or I’m gonna play up to it. I’m not going try and do it [properly]. I’ll try and do a kind of comedy version of what this is.’ I just think that must be frustrating for the dancers,” he observed.
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Bill Bailey took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2020 (Image: Getty)
Oti Mabusi and Bill Bailey lifted the Strictly Come Dancing glitterball in 2020 (Image: BBC)
Explaining his discomfort he says: “This is their [the dancers] whole life, you know. They’ve been doing this since they were kids. A lot of them grew up together and have been dancing from the age of eight, nine, 10 years old, and this is their whole life.
“So, I always said to Oti I was going to just…throw myself into it, and we weren’t going to try and kind of botch it or half do it. If we do it, we do it properly.
“And she used to say, ‘no funny’. That was her phrase. ‘No funny money. No mucking about. We do it properly or not at all,” he recalled smiling.
Although Bill’s appearance on the show was four years ago it is still influencing his performances. Asked if he has continued to dance, he admits to incorporating some moves into his live shows. Fans can see for themselves when his latest offering Thoughtifier takes to the stage at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London’s for a mammoth run from December 28 until February 15 next year.
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Bill Bailey is bring his new show Thoughtifier to the West End from December 28 (Image: Getty)
“I incorporate it into my show. During my stand-up show, I always, since Strictly, put a little bit in there. Whether it’s a bit of Paso or a little bit of Charleston, I do it every night on tour. And it’s amazing how it does actually keep you fit.
“Because it’s quite physically demanding. You have to be of a reasonable level of fitness to do it justice. So, yeah, I love it.”
Revealing that dance has also seeped into his everyday life, he confides: “I mean if I’m shopping in the supermarket and I hear music [now], I always think…’oh, this could be a two-step. No, perhaps not. It could be a Paso opening.’ I’m thinking about it in dance terms,” he laughed.
Bill Bailey’s Thoughtifier runs in Theatre Royal, Haymarket from December 28 until February 15. Tickets can be found though his .