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dancing professional and entrepreneur, AJ Preachard
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AJ, good to see you again. Good to see you. I last saw you when you looked exactly the same as you did now a few years ago
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Are you shocked by the shoes? I think they're iconic, aren't they, Tess and Claude
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But I think people kind of worry, like, is this the magic of the show that's missing
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But I think the magic of Strictly is the prose, the crew, the hair, the makeup, everything that it is
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But I think my one worry is making sure that when you're going to replace somebody like Tess and Claude
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It needs to be somebody that is quirky, original. Let's take French and Saunders
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You're thinking of yourselves now, aren't you? It's that thing, because they are so well-placed
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to bounce off each other. I think that's what their role is. They do it so perfectly
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That is the scary part. How do you replace such an iconic double-actor duo
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And they've been at the core of the show for such a long time, starting off in different positions
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but both there for 20-odd years. I mean, just an extraordinary... does this sort of score or underline some of the troubles
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that the show has had in the last few years, a few scandals with participants
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viewing numbers down a little bit, have we passed peak Strictly? I don't think so
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I think the one thing with a show like Strictly is you're going to have different viewings over each year
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You're going to see that kind of... Maybe you could say it slightly plateaued at the moment but I do feel like with the right cast the right celebrities coming in the right pros like it is so addictive And when you suddenly sit down to watch it for like half an hour
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you're like, OK, I'm attached to this journey now. I want to see how this is going to progress
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I think that's the secret to these shows, really casting that celebrities and the pros themselves
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to really make it like, oh, I'm attached to that person now. I'm invested. I have to
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My dinner plans have changed now because I need to watch Shrutley tonight. True. AJ, you were in it in 2016, 17 and 18
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Yes, yeah, yeah. I've got a clip of you dancing, have we? I'm probably still at the same again
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You do look exactly the same, which is... That's a great clip. I remember this dance, yeah, with Claudia, Frag of Honey
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the Charleston, fantastic dance, loved it. I did fall over to this next point a little bit
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when she pushed me back, but we get back up. That wasn't part of it? That wasn't in the dress run, I can tell you that
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I suppose the mark of a true professional is it looks exactly like it was all entirely planned
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and put through. So what was your experience like of the show? Because obviously there are so many different stories
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and scandals that make their way into the tabloids. I mean, did you get a sense
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that there was some tension behind the scenes or was it all plain sailing? I think like you as an individual come to the show
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it is a fantastic show. From everybody you don't see is what makes it so good
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And Tess and Claude that you see on camera, like our relationships, they want the best journey for the pros and the celebrities
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And that's what makes it. And if you want to really kind of throw yourselves into as you said how many sequins can we throw on you today Like if you like yeah I want more I want to do this And you just say yes to all these opportunities
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you get the best experience. Unfortunately, yes, in the past, some people haven't had the best experience
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It's come down to slightly, maybe one or two of the pros in the backstory of the studios and working so long
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But you have to remember, you're put under a lot of stress, a lot of pressure. I'm not saying this is kind of like defending anybody
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But people don't always deal with pressure and stress and all these things in the best possible way
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And I think you can sometimes see that from the people, how their nerves react and how they go in them sort of scenarios
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And we have had bullying allegations, inappropriate behaviour and even drugs claims going on behind the scenes
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Was that something you ever experienced? The pressure, as you say, is intense
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So anyone behaving badly, not intentionally, behind the scenes. I think when it comes down to Charlotte Strictly, they have to be very clear
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like if something has gone wrong and it's evident and it's been documented
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that needs to be dealt with, whether that be remove a professional like they've had to in the past or in the same cases
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maybe speak to some disciples and be like, oh, well, we can't have this happen, we need to move forward from that
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And I think as long as it's clear and precise, then that's how it has to do. In life, we're always going to have people, we want the best people in every scenario
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but unfortunately you are going to have one or two bad apples in there. Now one of the joys of Strictly is that you do get very often a range of different abilities You do get people who have been performers their whole lives and who sort of snap into it really easily and readily And you get other people who it amazing frankly they moved
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at all in their entire lives. As a professional dancer on the show
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which of the categories do you prefer to work with? Sort of helping someone up from
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sort of a standing start or clicking in with someone who's clearly danced before? My dance partners
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haven't exactly had the dance experience, but They've been willing to learn. And I've loved seeing that journey
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And we've kind of got all the way to that final, but never actually just made that final. But then again, I think as a viewer
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as somebody watching the show this year, you need people that can dance and people that can't dance
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Because if everybody was the same, 0-0, maybe minus for some people, from day one
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I wouldn't be tuning in to week nine or ten because I kind of would get bored. So I think it's important to have really good people
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and maybe, I don't want to say really bad people, but you know what I mean. People that have got the journey to go
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progression, yes. I mean, you were very supportive of Tom Skinner, this year's controversial
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dance contestant, because of what he said online, etc, etc, and he would admit, not the best dancer in the world, but you were very
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supportive. Yeah, because he came out, he was a yes. He was, come on, I'm going to
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take this to a while, I'm going to throw sequins on me. I probably don't
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feel comfortable deep, deep down if he was being honest with himself, but he gave
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it his everything. I think that's what you want to see on a show like Strictly. You can't deny it
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So, not over yet, more to come. Not over Yeah, Mortcom. Brilliant. Thank you very much, AJ, for we're good to talk to you
