I know! Moment of madness, but you know how it is, they ask you every year. Oh, they don’t ask you? They totally should! That’s ridiculous. When you think of some of the C-listers who’ve been on. Anyway, every single year it’s, oh, go on, please, we’ll double the fee, you’ll be the star, look how everyone loved John Sergeant, and every year I say, sorry, you’re absolutely asking the wrong guy, no, I don’t even dance at weddings yadda yadda yadda. Seriously, my agent is in tears – hilarious. Then this year I just thought, wait, lighten up, why the hell not?
Why? Well, and this probably sounds weird coming from someone as famously driven as me, but beneath all the professional stuff, I’ve always been a very fun and zany person. When I was a kid, all I wanted was a set of bongo drums. Have you ever been to Africa? Listen, “A-wimo-weh, a-wimo-weh, a-wimo-weh, a-wimo-weh, in the jungle, the mighty jungle”. I truly and deeply love love love groovin’ to da beat! Sorry if that’s a bit of a shock coming from a so-called household name-stroke-apprentice national treasure. All I can say is, hey, get used to it guys!
And I couldn’t have faced the kids. Oh, they’re thrilled their old dad is finally doing something unbelievably “hip”, if that’s the right lingo. My eldest kept saying, face it, Dad, the world is changing: you’re ancient, you can’t bank on the licence fee keeping us all at school for the next five years, so just shut up and do it. But of course it’s not about the money, or the exposure – dear old Sargie – you know me, it’s always been about the work. No, the way I see it, it’s just a chance for eight million people to watch me finding the real me.
Of course, now that I’ve started, I realise this is going to be the toughest thing I’ve ever done. What people like me never get about Strictly is it’s actually a very serious creative art form and I’m beyond humbled that they think I’m worthy.
