Bill Bailey kept getting his 'Strictly Come Dancing' routine wrong before the live show.
Bill Bailey
The 55-year-old comedian and his pro partner Oti Mabuse finished in joint second place on the leaderboard on Saturday night (14.11.20) after delighted the judges with their Couples Choice dance - which earned them 27 points from the panel, including a 10 from Shirley Ballas - but rehearsals were a different story.
Appearing on ITV's 'This Morning' on Thursday (19.11.20), Oti said: "I was so proud and so shocked because we didn't expect it.
"That routine, honestly, only worked that one time on live TV.
"He was struggling the whole day from Friday to Saturday, even the dress run he went in the complete different direction. But on the night, it worked!"
Bill admitted he and Oti were relieved he pulled it off on the night, despite everything going wrong in the dress rehearsal.
He added: "We were overcome with relief I think, more than anything else.
"There was so much in that routine, business with newspapers, hats, briefcase, phone, boxing, everything. It was all going on.
"In the dress run, I had the newspapers round the wrong way, I put the hat on sideways, I got a couple of steps wrong, dropped the phone!"
The judges were delighted, and Bill revealed his own skills on the dancefloor have even surprised himself.
He said: "It's been a bit of a revelation for me, I've gotta say.
"Having a knowledge of music helps but I've watched those videos now and I think, what am I doing? How on earth am I doing that? And this is testament to Oti's skill as a teacher for bringing this out in me."
Otis thought bosses had paired her with this year's 'comedy act' after she won in 2019, and she wasn't sure whether or not Bill would be taking the competition "seriously".
She explained: "I didn't know if he was going to take it seriously or not. I knew if they were gonna partner him with me, he wouldn't have a choice.
"Usually what happens is on the show after you win you get the season to show more of your personality. I think that was the intention, but Bill is a hard worker and the producers knew that."
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