What a great night. Apart from getting a cake from the judges I achieved all my goals. I delivered my best dance yet. I enjoyed myself. Smiled at least three times (!) and to mine and Flavia’s joy we were called out first again. I really thought if we were to be saved, we would be called out last. However the night held ever more drama for different reasons. Two of the favourites, to our collective surprise, were in the bottom two. But I suppose that’s what this kind of show is sometimes all about. I thought Zoe was such a good dancer and a lovely girl, so to see her and James go was very surprising and very sad.
We're Heading Home
It is now Thursday evening and apart from a very tough day at training today I have been floating around like I was on cloud nine. The pressure now is truly off. We really feel we’ve achieved something and for me personally it means the world to get to dance as a local lad in the magical tower ballroom. My dance is the chaaa chaaa chaaa and it is a fun dance, which I think suits the town of Blackpool. If I can pull it off to the best of my ability it will be my best latin dance so far. Looking forward to tomorrow where we all travel up on the coach together. Watch out for glitter and sequins on the M1.
Thanks to Flavia for getting me this far and thanks to everyone that has supported us and voted for us. We couldn’t have got to Blackpool without you.
Ciao for now. Craig.
What an amazing feeling for our names to be called out first. It was truly unbelievable. Like last week, I was hoping the public would get behind us and yet again they didn’t let us down. A kicking from the judges is so much easier to handle when you know the public are rooting for you.
As ever, I came in on the Monday morning with a positive mental attitude and a spring in my (slightly fatigued) step but to my concern for the first two days I really struggled. The steps, the routine and the timing were just not gelling for me. But then suddenly on the Wednesday something changed and I started to gain some confidence and started to have fun with the dance.
To be honest with you, I knew that the samba was probably not going to be a great dance for me but I hoped that I would improve on my jive last week. Sadly according to the judges, that wasn’t the case.
In my past three dances I have been able to overcome my nerves and really enjoy myself and hopefully my next dance I can improve technically and that, combined with a more relaxed performance will stand me in good stead.
I’m very excited about next Saturday because I have always wanted to dance the waltz. Because of my three previous ballroom dances I know I’ve got a good chance of getting my highest marks yet and I am determined to push myself very hard in training this week and hope to finally impress the judges.
The waltz will be my seventh dance and seven is my lucky number. I proposed to my wife on the 07/07 and she said yes, so I am hoping the judges will say yes too. Surely one of these dances is going to go my way.
cake
I know that there’s a dancer somewhere in me and I’m really hoping that the waltz will bring him out. I really need to show big improvement this week as if I leave the competition one week before getting to Blackpool it would be a bitter pill to swallow.
I’ll be dancing the magical Waltz on my birthday this Saturday which makes it all the more exciting. I wonder if the judges will get me a cake….?
Thanks again for all your support. Bye for now, Craig
…but even jiving like a funky Dad at a disco didn’t stop me from being bottom of the leader board!
Funky Dad Dancing
Flavia and I, again feel were ever so slightly under marked. This seems to be a reoccurring theme! We had a lot of fun in training and that’s what we aimed to produce on the night and I thought we did that, so we were obviously rather disappointed by the rather luke warm reception (luke warm is being very generous!). The feeling that being bottom of the leader board gives you, is not a pleasant one and I have to admit that it’s not somewhere that I want to be again in a hurry. To be saved when you’re bottom of the leader board is truly amazing because you know that a whole lot of people have picked up the phones to vote for you and that is truly special. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
It’s the samba next and I’ve got to admit the first two days of training were the toughest yet, mentally and physically. Normally I pick up the steps and the vibe of the dance very quickly but something with the samba in those few two days wasn’t connecting. I struggled to pick up the steps and I struggled to keep in time. We had a turn around on yesterday with the surprise arrival in training, of my brother Dean and my little nephew Joe. It was great to see them both and it gave me a massive lift which I really needed after another week of getting a kicking from judges!
Finally just to say, they warned me that this show could be about highs and lows and there was certainly a high about making it through on Saturday but there was also a low because to my shock, my mate Joe lost in the dance off which was a real shame as we really supported each other and I thought he started to show big improvement and certainly his last ever dance in the dance off was very good and he showed real class. I’ll miss having him around.
I’m going to go out on Saturday as ever and give it my all and don’t worry, there’ll be a big smile on my face.
Bye for now, Craig.
Craig and Flavia's Jive
That was very much like the feeling I had on Saturday, standing there with Flavia, as the hot spotlight shone in our faces. I’d said to Flavia after our marks in the foxtrot put us in the middle of the leader board, that I had a feeling that again we’d be in the bottom two, but felt sure that we’d come through it. However they couldn’t have made it more dramatic if they’d tried. First Craig, then Alicia chose Lynda but I never stop believing that my initial intuition was right. When Bruno chose us I could have jumped for joy as I knew that because of Len’s casting vote it gave us a fifty fifty chance of surviving. As my Dad (who was in the audience) pointed out afterwards, if Len were to save us it would seem like a dramatic come back. A bit like Liverpool’s comeback victory against AC Milan in the Champions League final in 2005.
The Foxtrot
The day had started so well and I had a very good feeling about the foxtrot. This was going to be my breakthrough dance. As it turned out, it didn’t exactly set the world alight but it was the first time I had really enjoyed myself on the live dance floor so for me that was a breakthrough. I got into the moment, the music and dancing so much that I technically slightly let myself down but was so enjoying this new found freedom on the dance floor that I just went with the flow. It was only after, when it was pointed out to me, that I realised I had looked at Flavia quite a few times in hold and this, along with my slightly droopy right elbow meant losing precious marks from the judges.
Winning yet another dance off was a great feeling but I really hope I’m not there again this week. It’s not an easy thing to deal with and it’s certainly no good for my blood pressure. We’ve had a great time this week as ever. I’m really excited about the upcoming jive. This really could be the breakthrough dance! Fingers crossed. Toes crossed.
Thank you so much for all your support. As ever it means a lot to me. Hope you enjoy my dance on Saturday.
Bye for now, Craig
…that was the nightmare that I faced on Saturday. Let me take you back to the dress rehearsal. After four days of training, Flavia and I were very excited and proud to finally deliver a performance that would improve our marks and show people what we could do. All was going well until the dress rehearsal (and bear in mind that’s only a few hours before the actual show). A strange thing happened, as I was doing the dance (which as you can imagine being the quickstep, is quite lively with little room for error) I, on a few occasions had a second or two where I had no idea what the next step was. This alarmed me but I didn’t tell Flavia because after all, I got through it and it was pretty good. But if I’m honest with myself that’s the first time the little gremlin had appeared on my left shoulder. I zoned into one particular part of the dance which I felt could be the stumbling block. So when it was my turn to walk the plank on the live show, that gremlin was parked firmly on my left shoulder but I thought it best to try and ignore him. All I can remember of my dance on the Saturday night was thinking that we made a great start until I did a turn and went to give a little wink to the audience (which in a rehearsal when no-one’s watching seemed a great idea) but as I turned right and looked a little to the left I found myself winking directly at Bruno who was looking back intently. The gremlin got a real buzz off that.
Gremlin Time
What happened next was the strangest feeling. I got into hold, started to do the dance and I can remember thinking I’ve done this better and even though my timing was probably a little out I thought I could still pull it off. But because I was concerned about a move twenty seconds in the future, I actually forgot my favourite bit of the routine which was a double pivot followed by an Astaire-like glide. I knew I’d done something wrong but wasn’t sure what. I dropped my hands a little like a boxer, stunned by a smashing jab to the jaw from my mate Joe Calzaghe. Just when I thought I was out for the count Flavia, like an angel, looked me right in the eye and somehow brought me back from the brink. She quickly raised my arms, looked me right in the eye with complete calmness and that brought me round. Suddenly I was back in the room.
At the time I felt like I was in a war zone for those eight long beats and was just pleased to get off the battlefield. Any marks that the judges gave me after that, would be a bonus because, as you can imagine, I was slightly shocked and disappointed. In hindsight the dance and my mistake were not as bad as I feared and I almost got away with it.
New week, new dance, new tan. Bye for now. Craig.
Craig and Flavia on GMTV Friday AM In case any of you missed it this morning. Craig and Flavia on training for the Quick Step for this Saturday’s show.
Wow. That was close. Talk about highs and lows. I’ve now had a proper taste of what it’s like in the eye of the storm. As you can imagine I was very nervous before my tango on Friday and I tried to hide the nerves as best I could but my left wrist and left arm had other ideas. As I finished the dance I actually thought I’d done it well and at first I was disappointed in the judges’ comments and in particular the very average scores. Having watched the footage back, I feel that the comments were very fair. At the time I really had no idea that my ‘hold’ as Len put it ‘…was slightly peculiar’. However I was enormously relieved and felt I’d given it my all and that my only enemy was really my own nerves. If I could have controlled my nerves on the night I know I would have delivered a more disciplined performance.
On Saturday night I really, really wanted to give a very good show in the rumba and I was praying for at least one ‘7′. I knew that I’d probably end up in the middle of the board but at least if I had a ‘7′ it would have put a smile on my face and given me a boost.
Sore Thumb
As a consequence of knowing I was in a dangerous place, I put too much pressure on myself and once again the old nerves tapped me on the shoulder and made the performance not as enjoyable as it should have been. Ten minutes before I was due to take the stage, I was brushing the soles of my shoes with a dancer’s steel brush (used to stop you from slipping). The adrenaline was pumping so much that the brush slipped off the sole of the shoe and cut my thumb quite badly. So then up until the moment I went on air I was sucking my thumb to stop the bleeding, much to the amusement of those around me who thought I’d regressed to the state of a toddler!
So to the dreaded moment of the dance off. I had a feeling that I was going to end up there to be honest, especially after my rumba scores. So I had sort of mentally prepared and decided to go out and give it my all and actually enjoy the dance, which I did. I’m glad I got to perform the tango again as I did feel I improved on my first performance. The relief to get through was huge. My wife, mum and friends were in the audience and we all had a group hug. My wife said ‘Don’t you dare put us all through that again!’ Flavia was quite upset which made me quite upset as I really didn’t want to let her down. We are both determined to work hard and try and avoid that happening again for as long as possible. It was really sad to see Richard go, he’s a lovely bloke and he worked incredibly hard. We had a nice drink in the bar afterwards and he said he will be around to support us all.
I’d like to thank everyone for their lovely comments and messages of support, it really means a lot to me. I’ll be on It Takes Two tomorrow so look out for me there. (Incidentally Darcey Bussell was on the show tonight and said that my rumba was under-marked which, coming from her, was great to hear). I am going to train as hard as I can this week and go out there this Saturday to have fun. I’m going to savour every moment and hopefully make my friends and family proud. Also, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m actually looking forward to my top up spray tan on Thursday… what’s going on? Bye for now, Craig.
Welcome to my very first Strictly blog. Where do I start? Well, I’ve caved in and am getting a spray tan tomorrow. How’s that for starters? I’ve wrestled with the orange demon for weeks now but I’ve come to the conclusion that it will get me eventually and seeing as the ‘tango’ is my first dance on Friday , it seems appropriate.
Tango Time
I’ve now been training for about three weeks and let me tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard on anything in my life. But the great thing about it is, that day by day, I’m starting to see slight improvements and it gives me inspiration and hope. The key is to try and be a sponge and absorb the pearls of wisdom that Flavia (one of the best dancers in the world) throws at me. She is a great teacher and has endless amounts of patience (which is quite handy). Training with her is great fun, we have a right laugh together.
Doing Strictly has quite literally taken over my life. Once you get on this juggernaut, the only thing to do is cling on as best you can, for as long as possible and enjoy the ride. My aim is to take it week by week and therefore in the short term, enjoy each individual dance, for there may not be another.
It is now Wednesday and I’ve just done my first ‘It Takes Two’ with my fellow ‘juggernaut’ passengers. The show has a friendly, family-like vibe. Everyone seems to be genuinely buzzing about this year’s series and all seem to love being part of Strictly. I was grateful for some kind comments from Camilla and Matthew – it really put a spring in my step.
Ready to Rhumba
Claudia was lovely and happened to mention my alter egos that I have created for each individual dance; Pablo the bull-fighting, Spanish aristocrat will be dancing the tango and Danny, the young lothario (whose heart finally gets stolen) will dance the rhumba. Let’s hope they don’t let me down!
The technical rehearsal is tomorrow and we’re getting a ballet class from world famous ballerina Darcey Bussell, then dress rehearsal on Friday daytime and then it’s showtime. I’m very excited (incredibly nervous) and hope all my training pays off. I will blog again after Saturday’s show – fingers crossed I’ll still be in the show for next week. Bye for now. Craig
Craig Kelly will soon be posting blogs to update everyone on his progress on the dancefloor…
Craig has just announced he has signed up to the seventh series of strictly come dancing. He will be partnering flavia cacace.
The star of some of British television’s most critically acclaimed and best loved shows, Craig Kelly brings charm, wit and handsome good looks to the nation’s screens. Currently residing on Corrie, the nation’s favourite Street, heartthrob Craig has the Weatherfield ladies falling at his feet.
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Craig on Flavia on Strictly
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Interview On Strictly
For over a decade, Mancunian Craig has been winning praise for his roles in multi award-winning drama series, from Queer as Folk to Hotel Babylon. He now looks forward to the “huge adventure” that is Strictly Come Dancing, bringing a touch of macho Manchester sex appeal to the ballroom.
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