Clockwise from left: Former Coronation Street star Natalie Gumede dances with Artem Chingvintsev in 2013; Strictly Come Dancing’s director Nikki Parsons; hosts Sir Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly
MAKING THE SHOW IS A HUGE TEA M EFFORT. EVERYONE PULLS TOGETHER... WITH BRILLIANT RESULTS. Craig Revel Horwood. “Even ‘Evil Craig’ is nice,” laughs Parsons. It is the comedic moments that stand out from Parsons’ years working on the show: “John Sergeant pulling Kristina (Rihanoff ) across the floor, Ann Widdecombe flashing her knickers, Russell Grant being fired out of a cannon and, last year, hairy biker Dave Myers – everything he did was memorable.” She has also enjoyed watching the celebrities knuckle down and learn to do something alien to them. “In the early years we had quite a few sportsmen, such as Matt Dawson and Mark The Special Award
Ramprakash, who couldn’t dance for toffee when they started. But by the end of it they were amazing. “I’ve absolutely loved working on Strictly,” says Parsons, who is again onboard for this year’s run. “At the end of every series, you think, ‘I can’t do that again – it half killed me,’ but that’s soon forgotten and then I’m looking forward to working with a great team of people again.” She adds: “Speaking on behalf of the team, we all love working on Strictly and are so proud of what we’ve achieved. We’re producing a series with high production values, which people really enjoy watching.” 17