91Èȱ¬

Gethin and Camilla dance the Cha Cha

Saturday night's TV viewing has been a shower of glamour and sparkle when for three months celebrity guests twirled their way across the famous Strictly Come Dancing television ballroom.

The season five Strictly crown was claimed by singer Alesha Dixon and her professional dancing partner Matthew Cutler on Saturday, 22 December, 2007.

But it was in the previous week's semi-final that millions of viewers gasped in shock as professional dancer Camilla Dallerup and celebrity partner Gethin Jones were voted out of the competition.

A firm favourite in Norfolk - Camilla and her professional dancing partner Ian Waite were last in the county when thousands of people joined them in a Cha Cha masterclass under the mirror balls in the 91Èȱ¬ Studio at the Royal Norfolk Show 2007.

Camilla is now in rehearsals for the forthcoming Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour at the start of 2008.

Christmas With The Stars

In an interview for Christmas With The Stars, broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Norfolk Christmas Eve, Camilla told Martin Barber about life on Strictly Come Dancing (SCD), dancing with Blue Peter's Gethin, her plans for Christmas and answered your questions.

MB: We're actually chatting just a few days after the semi-final. How are you feeling now?

CD: Still carrying Kleenex around and tissues! No, it's a funny feeling. I'm really sad that we didn't get to go all the way to the final because we were looking forward to the challenge, but on the other hand, so excited.

The semi-final night was magic. I couldn't have wished for a better partner than I had in Gethin and everything he's given to this series, he's just been an absolute gem to work with. He just did everything I asked him to do. A fantastic dancing partner.

MB: What's that moment like when, as the professional dancers, you find out who you're going to get as your celebrity. Do you have any idea before you meet them?

CD: I had no idea who I was going to get. They always ask, 'What are you looking for in a partner?' I said someone who's quite young and fit and working hard and then Gethin walked in and I thought 'Okay, Christmas has come early!' So for me it's been Christmas since August.

Relationship with Gethin

MB: I have to say there's been lots of gossip on the Strictly message boards and in the papers about your relationship with Gethin. It is just good mates, isn't it?

CD: Absolutely. I think Gethin sort of summed it up saying we couldn't have got to the semi-final if we weren't best friends.

Gethin and Camilla dance the Paso Doble

We've been spending every day together for the last three months, sometimes five to seven hours a day. He really is my new best friend and hopefully it'll stay that way. We've had a few enquiries to do some dancing next year and we're both looking forward to that.

MB: I spotted this on the internet earlier, it's a headline that reads 'Gethin's mum wants Strictly love match', it seems that Gethin's mum was egging you two on.

CD: I have no idea where that appeared from but I must say that if it wasn't for the support from his family and friends throughout this series, I don't know if we could have made it this far.

I adore his family and I am going to miss his sister so much. She's the biggest fan ever of Strictly Come Dancing. She is totally the one who got him into it in the first place.

MB: How stressful is the Saturday night? Watching it at home it looks incredibly glam, but is there a lot of stress and nerves bubbling underneath?

CD: If you don't work hard before the Saturday I think you'd be even more nervous because even when you've given it everything you can in the rehearsal studios, you're still nervous on a Saturday.

What was so great about Gethin was that he somehow managed to deliver his best performance every Saturday.

Sometimes you can peak on a Thursday and then it's a let down on a Saturday, but Gethin and I just found a way to work together and he was very much someone who wanted to work as a team and give 50 per cent.

So sometimes there were Saturdays where I was more nervous than him because I was worried if he was going to remember, if he was going to keep his arm up and, you know, lead me around the floor.

But I think waltz and salsa week, when he actually said to me 'Let me lead', those words will stay with me forever because he totally did and I couldn't have been prouder.

MB: Let's talk about the costumes. You can't have Strictly without lots of rhinestones and glitter. How much input do you, as the choreographer get to put into what you and your celebrity is wearing?

CD: What's so amazing about Strictly is that we're all working as a team. I sit down before the series starts and we talk about what ideas I have for themes throughout the series for the waltz, for the salsa for the samba, so that the costume goes with the music.

See-through shirt

MB: There's one shirt that seemed to particularly catch the eye of many of the ladies across the nation, not to mention some of the boys.

Camilla and Gethin dancing the Salsa

You put Gethin in a sheer see-through black shirt for one of your dances. Was this your idea?

CD: What's very funny is that I showed him this black see-through shirt in week one and he laughed a lot and said, 'Forget about it. That's never going to happen', so I told the dress department to take it away and play around with it a little bit.

Luckily the lights were quite dim in the dressing area where he tried it on and he thought it looked okay, until he got onto the live show standing next to Tess with the full spotlight, realising in the camera that this shirt was totally see-through.

I've had so many thank you e-mails and cards from the nation who just loved the shirt. And it was the breakthrough week so who cares, it was fantastic.

Questions for Camilla

MB: We've had lots of questions sent in via the 91Èȱ¬ Norfolk website for you.

Vicky in Yeovil says: 'Hey Camilla, I think you're absolutely amazing. What I would love to know is, if you could make up a dance what would you call it?'

CD: That's an interesting question. What would I call it? Well I don't know but if I could make up a dance it would probably be a mixture between the rumba and the waltz and it would probably be called Passion.

MB: Laura Butcher, aged 19 from Kent, asks, 'How do you come up with such fantastic choreography and after series five is it hard to think of songs which haven't been used already?'

CD: The answer is yes! Every year I think surely I can't think of a song that hasn't been used and then you just listen through hundreds of songs and you manage to somehow.

This year with Gethin I was really pleased with the choices because somehow they actually seemed to suit him as well and I always did ask his advice as well, although he will tell everyone that I made the decisions but I tell everyone it's a joint effort.

And I suppose choreography is something that you have to be inspired to do. When you have a partner like Gethin, who really wants to learn and get involved and who was so excited to be part of SCD and taking on the challenge every week, it wasn't difficult at all.

MB: Gemma, aged 15 from Plymouth, asks, 'I have some serious confidence issues when it comes to even stepping inside a dance class. None of my friends shares my passion for dancing, what do you recommend to give my confidence a well-needed boost?'

CD: Hi Gemma, I think you should not care about what your friends think, just go to a dance studio and as soon as you've been there for one lesson or two you'll meet new friends and find your confidence will start building as soon as you start learning the steps.

What's interesting, when you join a group class, is that no one has time to look at anybody else as they're so busy concentrating on what they are doing, following the music, getting the steps and you find you have lots of friends and that’s brilliant.

Cha Cha class at Royal Norfolk Show

Royal Norfolk Show

MB: We, of course, first started working together earlier this year at the Royal Norfolk Show and I'll always remember you getting locked in the toilets and trapped by the rain.

CD: Yes that was interesting! I'm so glad that I bought the wellies and then I forgot to bring them to the toilet because it started to rain when I came out! But I've had lots of use of my wellies since.

MB: You're grinning, you obviously have fond memories of the Royal Norfolk Show.

CD: I had such a good time and especially doing the cha-cha in my wellies, I loved it! That was my first pair of wellies. I've been in the country for 11 years and I've never needed to buy a pair but now that I've got them I use them lots.

MB: Actually one of the people who was in one of your master classes at the Royal Norfolk Show has e-mailed. This has come from Sophie and Sam Todd who live in Norfolk.

They've asked 'What age were you when you first started dancing', I think they're thinking of having dancing lessons.

CD: I started at two-and-a-half. You can start dancing at any time. I think it's a great way to interact with other children and it's a great way to learn manners.

Dancing for whatever reasons is also very good for your confidence, so whenever you grow up and you have to go for a job interview it's good to have that extra confidence really.

MB: One thing the series has done is to really inspire people all over the country to 'Keep dancing' as Tess and Bruce would say.

CD: I agree and that's one of the main things I love about dancing, it has no age. You'll go into a dance school and you'll see how people are interacting whether they're 13 or 90. Because they have dancing in common and it keeps everyone laughing smiling and young.

MB: The other thing Sophie and Sam want to know is 'What was your most special dance ever and who was it with?'

CD: I will have to say the most special dance ever was with Gethin and it was the waltz.

Camilla Dallerup and Gethin Jones

MB: Your face has gone all gooey!

CD: Do you know, in five series, that night where we did the waltz and the salsa, I will never forget it. It was fantastic.

He said 'Let me lead,' and I did which took a lot of trust on my side, he'd only been dancing for 12 weeks. He was just amazing, I cannot believe what he managed to achieve in 12 weeks. Luckily enough we got to do the waltz again for the Christmas special which was equally as magic.

Camilla's Christmas

MB: You've mentioned Christmas so let's talk about it. How will you be spending Christmas?

CD: I'm going to have two days off for Christmas. They are going to have nothing to do with dancing, but we'll probably be talking about dancing as my parents back home want to know everything.

But I'm going to put my feet up and my mum will cook the most delicious meals, I can't wait.

I just get to hang out with my family back in Denmark. Christmas means a lot to everyone back home. It's just the one time of year, that wherever I've been in the world, or wherever my sister has travelled too, we always make it back from Christmas.

We have this tradition with a rice pudding where they hide an almond in there. Whoever finds it gets a present, but you can get very full as sometimes we have to eat the whole bowl of rice pudding before you find where the almond is.

And we have crackling pork and sweet potatoes made in toffee, it's so yummy.

MB: Is it straight back to work after Christmas?

CD: I'll be dancing with James Martin and Martin Offiah on the SCD tour which stars in January. I rang Martin and asked if he wanted to practise between Christmas and New Year and he said 'Absolutely'.

James Martin and Camilla Dallerup

MB: And how do you feel about being part of the forthcoming SCD Live Tour?

CD: What an honour to be asked to be part of that, that's got to be magic going out there knowing all those people are fans of Strictly, having watched most of the series and coming to join us for a celebration dance. I can't wait, I'm so excited.

Strictly Christmas special

If you can't wait for the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour to play in a city near you, there's an extra special helping of Strictly Come Dancing over the festive period. Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly host a one-off extravaganza on 91Èȱ¬1 at 8.30pm on Christmas Day.

Four couples from Strictly Come Dancing 2007 will compete against previous Strictly winners Mark Ramprakash and Darren Gough.