Greg Wise was convinced to compete on 'Strictly Come Dancing' by his wife Emma Thompson - who told him he'd be "mad" not to do it.
Greg Wise
The 55-year-old actor initially declined the offer to take part in the BBC One ballroom show as he and his Oscar winner wife Emma, 62, were going to have their first holiday in seven years together this autumn, but the 'Nanny McPhee' star told her husband he simply had to slip into some sequins and strut his stuff.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz and other assembled media ahead of the start of the new series, he said: "I told my dear lady wife when they asked that I'd said no, and she said 'You're mad! You've got to do it!'
"She's been filming solidly since January, she's made two films back-to-back. We'd planned a really nice autumn, we were actually going to have our first holiday in seven years together, and over the space of a five minute conversation we had, the entire autumn was kicked into the long grass and here I am.
"And she's thrilled because she'll be able to relax and support me and watch every Saturday night, or as many Saturday night's as I survive."
Greg also was inspired to dance on 'Strictly' by the memory of his late sister Clare, who tragically died from bone cancer at the age of 51 in 2016.
He explained: "She was a real disco diva, she was the dancer in the family and she left this world in a glitterball coffin, and as this show is glittery and diva-y and disco-y, I thought, ‘I have to do it for her.'"
Greg and Emma met when they made 'Sense and Sensibility' together and and he admits he'd be happy to perform a routine inspired by the 1995 period drama.
He said: "It’s just walking around in circles, like a really slow motion bit of Scottish country dancing ... I could do that, absolutely, but I don’t think we would get scored very highly.”
'Strictly Come Dancing' starts on Saturday 18 September at 7.45pm on BBC One.
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